Stop trying to avoid this

Hey club!

There’s a principle I want to share with you that I think will be extremely helpful for you as an athlete (if you understand it, live it, and stop trying to avoid it).

Pressure is a Privilege

When there's pressure, it means there's something on the line. 

You're in a situation where you can grow. It allows you to hold yourself to a higher standard. Having pressure in getting myself to the next level or next role pushes me to wanna work so hard because I know the responsibilities I have. 

Avoiding pressure will never allow you to level up. 

When you have the mindset of consistently leveling up, you will make mistakes. But if you can learn to reframe the mistakes, reiterate, and apply, you'll continue improve. And the more you improve, the pressure and your responsibilities grow. 

That’s why I’m going to walk you through 3 specific strategies you can use to take on the pressures from the beautiful game of basketball and from life. 

PRINCIPLE #1
Be Prepared

Preparation gives you confidence. 

I practice preparation hard, so when I go into a game my body is ready, my shots are ready and my mindset is fresh. Now there are times in the seasons when you waver in confidence but the best way to beat it is by putting in more practice and more preparation. I personally love preparing by meditating (which I’ll talk about more) and writing in my journal. 

This type of stuff can help me build bulletproof confidence, which can lead to less pressure. 

Here’s a quick YouTube video on how I prep during my off season:

PRINCIPLE #2
Block the Noise

A lot of pressure can come from the outside, and it’s noisy. 

And I would say the biggest mistake a professional athlete can make is listening to this noise and allowing it to dictate what you do. Listening to the fans and negative information you get from maybe coaches and other players, can really hurt your mental performance, adding to that “pressure”. At the end of the day, if what you’re consuming is not serving you or your desired reality, then its a waste of time.

I’ve even fallen in the trap of looking my name up after I played a bad game just to see what people are saying. Even after a good game! It’s still noise.

Block out all outside noise. It’s just other people's opinion about stuff that, honestly, doesn't matter a whole lot to me and I can't control it, so why would I even waste my time trying to focus on it?

PRINCIPLE #3
Meditation

As a young athlete, I wish someone would have told me how important meditation is, especially in preparing for game day.

Before the game, I like to set time aside to think on how I want the game to play out. I try to experience those emotions as if my teammate came up to me and said, "Good job this game." You gotta feel that in your mind. Your brain doesn't know the difference between that and it actually happening in real life.

Sometimes I’m dealing with injuries and I don’t get to have that extra work after practice. So, I'll do the work mentally before I go to bed. I'll practice two-foot stops like Jalen Brunson. I'll practice bump spin shots like Shai Gilgis Alexander. Where your mind goes, the body will follow. Where your attention goes, your energy goes.

Journal prompt: “How can I meditate better before my next game/ training session?”