Follow through

My first word as a child was “ball.” My father, a huge fan of the game, was ecstatic as he handed me a tiny basketball. He actually named me after the GOAT, Michael Jordan. When I was growing up, my father didn’t have much free time, but when he did we would spend that time in the backyard running agility courses and eye-hand coordination drills.

I remember one specific afternoon when we grabbed everything that was in the backyard to use as defenders to “protect” the goal. My defenders usually included lawn chairs, buckets, a picnic table, and occasionally my mother. After everything was set up, my father would coach me for hours. He trained me to maneuver around the defenders we created and quickly score a goal. After that, we focused on my shooting.

My father said that if I could make ten shots in a row, I could be finished for the night. He then went inside the house and watched me from there. I wasn’t the best at shooting the basketball and didn’t understand why. 
After my father watched me repeatedly miss my shots, he came back outside and told me to pass him the ball. As soon as I passed the ball to him, he shot it. Swish… The ball came right back to him, like it was a magnet, and he shot it again. Swish. He had my attention. He looked up at his right hand that was still in the air, then looked back at me. That was the moment I learned what it meant to “Follow Through.” In basketball terminology, to follow through means “To continue one’s movement after the ball has been thrown.” Similarly, when referencing life, to follow through means “To see a task through to its completion.”

Little did I know, years later, I would be applying this phrase towards ALL my goals and tasks. I was trained to “Follow Through” not only in basketball but also in life. I learned to focus and commit to my goals, at that time, the ten shots. It was difficult, but not impossible. Everything is possible with the right mindset and determination.

Now, I’m staring down a new challenge. I will be using the “Follow Through” mindset while training for my next goal. That goal is to complete a long distance run across the United States with a group of men I recently met. 

I don’t enjoy running that much. However, I agreed to go on this run because I wanted to challenge myself. The marathon starts in El Paso, Texas, and ends off the coast of San Diego, California.

To train for this run, I began running every other day starting with one-mile runs. After a couple of weeks, I started increasing to three to five miles. Currently, I’m running five to nine miles every other morning. To finish my training, I’ll have to push through my current comfort levels.

Sometimes, when I wake up,  I don’t feel like running at 6AM or have the motivation to get out of bed. When I have mornings like this, I jump out of bed immediately. I don’t allow myself to snooze the alarm. If I lay another second longer, I know I will choose to go back to sleep in my warm comfortable bed, the easier choice. I force my body to get out of bed before I can talk myself out of achieving my goal. After I jump up, I go straight to the restroom and throw cold water on my face to start my morning. With every hard day that passes, I have to remind myself to Follow Through.

One last thing before I go. Do not let others scare your dreams away with their words. People will tell you that your goal “seems too risky” or some might even say “impossible.” If you truly believe that you can achieve your goal then do not listen to them. People will tell you that you can’t do something, because THEY can’t do it. These people are showing you their limits and comfort zones, not your own. So, to anyone reading this, stay dedicated to your goals because the best things happen when you “Follow Through.”