In The Know w/ Finke & Hill

I’m not the type to say cheesy things that have been repeated throughout the course of people’s lives that sounds “whatever”-ish. But I must say, that anything is possible to the human mind that believes in so. For many looking on the outside in, it seems that I was destined at some point to reach the NBA mark and get an opportunity. However, for those that have been close to me and have been able to witness the successes and struggles up to this point, some might call it a miracle. I’m here to say that miracles are something that each individual can come across. This is something that I had learned first, experienced second.

At the beginning of the year 2021, one of the goals I had written down for myself was that I wanted to make an NBA roster within the year. This was in the middle of my season in Jerusalem, Israel. Prior to me writing down this goal for myself, I had zero points in a recent game and I had broken my hand earlier in the year that had me sidelined for around 2-3 months. I wasn’t on many people’s “NBA” radar to say the least. During the time I was injured, I took the time to learn and study successful people in basketball and also in areas outside of basketball. Listening to influential people such as Les Brown, Napoleon Hill, Jim Rohn, and many others. I also took an interest in gaining through reading books. Books such as “Think and Grow Rich”, “Mind Gym”, “Atomic Habits” and many others. I believe that it is important to study the works and listenings of many different sources because what I have found is that many of the world’s great successors and thinkers share common ideas. One of the ideas that I kept coming across, is that it’s the daily routine and habit that one puts himself through that gives them the greatest chance of accomplishing one’s goal. It’s not a situation where a man can luck himself into a situation that he desires. It’s the daily routine and habit that the man does every day consistently over time that allows the man to become. With this being studied, I wanted to put it to the test. Everything that I did from that day on was not for anyone else but myself. I didn’t go to the gym an hour early to do ball-handling and get shots up for people to notice. I didn’t get shots up after practice so that the coaches would notice. I did it because I had a desire that was fueled by so much applied faith that it was easy for me to put in those extra hours.

I followed this format of building my daily habits one by one, little by little, day by day. The hardest part of building my habits and doing them consistently was not seeing the results I wanted to see right away. To this day the hardest part of me building a habit is not seeing the result like I want to right away. I had many more downs than ups to follow that year including 3 coaching changes and not playing for the last month of my season. Still, throughout the whole process, I was building my daily habits and routine. Going to the gym early, picking out more time for myself in the day to read, add doing breathing exercises and stretches into my daily routine. The things I do today aren’t things that I was just able to pick up and do instantly. It was a slow and steady add-on to the things I did daily. I also did this with the understanding that the more healthy habits I add to my lifestyle, the higher chance I give myself of becoming the person it takes to accomplish my goals. The beauty of writing down goals is that your intuition will give you guidelines and a roadmap of how to get to what you’re trying to accomplish. The challenge for you as an individual is going outside your comfort zone because without discomfort there is no progression. This is where the beauty is in the struggle. You don’t realize the growth during the moment, but after when the moment is complete. As the season went on, circumstances out of my control happened fairly quickly which ultimately ended up with me leaving and cutting the season short. I’ll write about my experiences with what happened in a book I plan on writing in years to come.

I was fortunate to catch the attention of a scout who blessed me with the opportunity of getting recognized by the Pelicans. I got the opportunity to then play summer league with the Pelicans, get invited to training camp to follow, and then ultimately got waived and sent to their G League team. Throughout the time from summer league to being assigned to the G League team, I still had the same goal along with the same habits of doing my routines on a daily. With me having experienced a touch of the NBA lifestyle and ultimately not being on a roster to start the year, it didn’t affect the belief I had in myself. Not only did I stay consistent with the routine I was following, but I also managed to find even more things to add to my daily routine. Even to this day as I write this, I’m still finding things that I can incorporate into my daily living. The result is this allowed for me to have a solid year with the team averaging 17 points 6 rebounds on over 50% shooting from the field goal and 40% shooting from 3 leading up to the G League Winter Showcase. This is an event where almost every representative from a management standpoint in the NBA is in attendance watching these games. I didn’t see myself having this opportunity when I had first written down my goal at the beginning of the year. This was the time where preparation meets opportunity. At the showcase, I was able to score 25 points in the first game and contribute 12 points in a 35+ blowout win the 2nd game. 24 hours after the game I was hit with the call saying that I got the opportunity to play with the Hawks on a 10 day.

If you believe something so deeply in your heart, it will express in your actions and tone of voice and others will be compelled to help you with your journey, no matter if they know your end goal or not. Confidence starts with self. If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else believe in you? Things rarely turn out the way you expect them to, but life always has a funny way of balancing itself out for you as long as you have applied faith and desire that drives you every day. Every choice that you make is either helping you accomplish your goal, or hurting your chances of not only achieving it, but becoming the person it takes to accomplish that goal. I want everyone who reads this to know and understand that anything is possible to any desire that comes to your mind. You have all the answers within you as to how you are to accomplish that goal. Write down on a piece of paper and meditate on whatever it is you want to accomplish or achieve on a daily and make sure you have a plan on how you want to help others along the way and you will achieve what you desire. Believe in yourself. Allow miracles to become a common theme in your adventures in life. I’m telling you this because I’m just a guy who applied himself and disciplined himself with daily habits and routines that allowed me to be ready for the opportunity. I’ll go into more details in another blog post on how to accomplish what you desire, but for now, I dare you to challenge yourself. Write down a goal and read it every day multiple times a day. Whether it be big or small and take it head-on with the most optimism that you Do whatever it takes to see it to completion. Even a goal such as reading a page a day in a book. I must add that the more uncomfortable/ challenging you make yourself or your goal, the bigger the reward is on the other side. This a true because life is about balance. Whether things are good or bad, up or down, left or right, etc, life will always balance itself out. This is why it’s important to never get too low when things aren’t going well and to never get too high when things are going well. Stay balanced.

Knowing that I’m not perfect myself by any means, in a lot of ways I’m both the author and the reader of these blog post. I’m 26 with an opportunity to take advantage of the time I have in my day. One of the ways I plan on doing that is by helping others become the best versions of themselves. There is unbelievable untapped potential within each and every one of us. All it takes is to become a better version of yourself day by day, step by step. I’m not sure if I’ll make all my blog posts this long. For those that read this all the way through until completion, I thank you for taking the time to check this out.

Leave a comment on ideas or topics you’d like for me or Finke to discuss in later blog posts and make sure you tell all your friends and fam to subscribe.

Hill boy out.