To steal some words from Joe Rogan, “there are levels to everything.”
When I made the jump from high school to Prep school, that was a whole new level.
It felt like I had to play at 1000% just to keep up. The game felt like it was moving too fast.
When I made the jump from prep school to college and we were playing teams like Texas, South Carolina, and Wake Forest it felt like warp speed.
As I was leaving to go to prep school, I was talking to one of my dad’s former players who had just signed a contract to play professional ball overseas.
He said, “Everything is faster in college, guys play like you are trying to take food out of their mouth.”
I laughed out of ignorance.
He wasn’t joking….for many of them that wasn’t all that inaccurate.
They were on scholarship and trying to make it to the dance.
I found out real quick that hand checking in college and high school is not the same thing…
It was the equivalent of getting out of bed and stepping right into heavy high-speed traffic.
So I leaned in.
It took time but the game started to slow down and I could see things happening before they actually did like I used to.
I just had to embrace the next level and adjust to the intensity until it became new normal.
When I went back home during the summers and played in pick-up games, other people noticed too.
They hadn’t been exposed to the other levels like I had.
This isn’t just true in sports but it is way more obvious there because of the physical nature of it.
This is no different than when you get a promotion.
It’s the same when you step out into your own business.
It’s the same when you step into a cohort of peers that are doing bigger things than we are.
It’s the same when we decide to prioritize ourselves and do things that look like personal development.
It’s overwhelming at first. It’s hard to catch up with the speed of things and learn what is what.
Lean in!
You will adapt, you will find a new normal…and then one day, you’ll unexpectedly find yourself on a new level.
Everyone feels that way when they go through the process of leveling up.
It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and second guess yourself.
Just lean in harder.
See you there 😉
