Doc Rivers talks about when one of his sons complained about playing time:

No coach wants to lose.  If you do the right thing, minutes go up. Kids need to learn how to fight for it and need to hear the truth father than hearing you bash the coach.  

"I support you and I know you can play.  But, you have to keep working and earning your spot [while respecting the coach and your teammates and while being a great friend and teammate.]

If You Want To Be The Best, Start By Being The Best That YOU Can Be.

If you want to be the best, start by being the best that YOU can be.

You have to practice, you have to work on yourself and your game .... everyday.   There are always people out there better than you, so you have to work hard knowing that someday you will meet and play against them.

Will you be ready?

You also have to find someone that believes in you, someone who has a plan for how to help you be the best you can be - and then you have you trust them.  You have to accept constructive criticism as just coaching and helping you to be your best.  Be happy when you have a coach that yells at you when you start walking or jogging because you have someone that won't let you fail.  If left to ourselves, we might not work as hard as we need to.  But when we have the right coach, they won't let us settle.  So be appreciative and thankful when you get that coach that yells at you to get better.

Finally, find the best and go play them.  If you're the best player in the gym, it's time to find another gym because you aren't getting challenged enough.  Nobody likes to lose, but if you never lose, you never grow because you get satisfied and your weaknesses don't get exposed.  When we lose, it forces us to face our weaknesses head on, learn from them, and grow them.

1 - WORK every day to become the best YOU

2 - Appreciate good, tough coaching

3 - Find the toughest competition

Reap Now, Sow Later | Growth Mindset

 Yesterday, I saw you shed a tear or two on the field during practice.

You were crying because the new soccer drills that your new coach of your new academy team was hard.  Really hard.  He was asking you to combine and perform several new ball moves that you had never done together in a three step drill.  It was obvious each time that it was your turn that your mind was racing and lost and confused in ways that you have not experienced.

What I saw in you was the look that I've seen in the eyes of so many of the athletes that I've coached when introducing them to something new.  It was the look of frustration, fear, and the lack of confidence that comes with trying something new.

At first I hurt for you because I would love for you to go through life with no worries and to always be the best - but then I got excited for you.  That look that was on your face was the reason why we signed you up for academy.  In soccer, I have given you all that I could give you.  It was time for a new challenge - and this is it.  

Embrace this new challenge.  Welcome it.  Let it fuel you.  Let it drive you.  If you can find the way to allow this new challenge to push you, you are on your way to doing great things in life because you will be living the life driven by the constant pursuit of greatness that comes from getting out of your comfort zone.

Getting out of your comfort zone.  That is what you are being introduced to you.  Now, its my turn as your Daddy, your teacher, and your coach to teach you what that means, how scary it can be, how beneficial it can be, and how to leverage this into a sense of urgency to inspire you to work on your game when you get home instead of your electronics.

The first step is learning to appreciate the challenge that has been put in front of you.  Love the fact that you are new or struggling at something because it gives you a chance to prove yourself.  Create a vision for how you want to be in a month.  See and feel what it will be when you know exactly what to do and how to do it when the coach calls out a new drill - see and feel what it will look like when you are able to perform it all at the same level or higher than the teammates that you are behind right now.

Then work.  Work to make that vision a reality.  That is the secret sauce - know what you want to accomplish, then go accomplish it.  It is possible and only possible through doing the work.

Lastly, pray.  God is ordering your steps.  Learn to trust the process.  You can't reap without sowing.  Right now, its reaping season for you.  Lets reap now, so that we can sow and live abundantly later.

Daddy loves you.