When I was young I set pretty lofty goals for myself. In youth, we don’t tend to think about what happens if you don’t reach those goals … you just assume it’s going to happen. Think about when you told your parents you were going to play professional sports, or be President of the United States. I’m sure, if you haven’t already said it by now, as a parent yourself, you probably heard, “That’s great, but make sure you have a backup plan.”
Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” This week is a good time to think about the “what ifs.” What if you had forgotten to develop a backup plan and you simply continued on your path for reaching your goal? Would you have been better off, or more likely to achieve your goal?
On Sunday, Michael Jordan, arguably one of the greatest basketball players of all time, turned 50 years old. You’ve probably heard the story of Jordan not making the basketball team his sophomore year of high school. At the time he was about 5’11”, and was too short to play on the varsity squad.
Jordan didn’t let that discourage him. That year, playing on the JV team, he had several 40-point games. Luckily as well, over that next year, the young Jordan grew another four inches and worked tremendously on his game. During his final two seasons at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C., he averaged 20 points per game and was finally selected to McDonald’s All-American Team during his senior season.
Jordan went on to attend the University of North Carolina where he excelled. However, again, as he attempted to live a dream — this time to play in the NBA — he was looked over. The Portland Trailblazers, who still kick themselves for this decision, selected Sam Bowie with the second overall pick, giving the Chicago Bulls the chance to select Jordan third overall.
I think about “what if” Jordan had ensured that he had a backup plan. What if he had trained rigorously for baseball and basketball? Could he have been as successful in his basketball training that would have garnered him a position on the varsity team for his junior and senior seasons?
If Jordan had put equal amount of attention on baseball and basketball, would he have been able to excel at the one sport in the way that he did? Although Jordan was a good baseball player, being cut from the varsity basketball team motivated him. He focused and pushed himself to be great. It is my belief that if he would have devoted an equal amount of time to a second option, providing himself a backup plan, he wouldn’t be the player that we know today.
On another note, I’m not saying Jordan wouldn’t have been a great player regardless. He was a fantastic athlete aside from being highly motivated. However, I don’t believe, without his direct focus on basketball, that he would have been the individual that we consider the greatest basketball player of all time.
I want to encourage you this week to “Be Like Mike,” as the saying went. You may fail, but it probably won’t kill you. You might succeed, but there will always be another goal yet reached. If you truly want to be counted in this world, possess the courage to continue and press on for more and more success in your life. It’s the journey that will make you happy, not what’s at the end.
Tyler Montgomery is the Editor of Club Solutions Magazine. Contact him at tyler@clubsolutionsmagazine.com.
