I’m not a very reflective person. I tend to take moments for what they are, and then I move on from them as I look forward to what is coming next. Usually, I am so caught up in the next phase of whatever project I am working on that I rarely get to sit back and think about what I may have experienced or been able to accomplish. Now that I’ve taken my talents to Corporate America, I am completely removed from my prior projects, and I have found myself a bit more thoughtful about those earlier days lately.

I can remember my friend telling me he wanted to start a website and he wanted me to partner with him on it. I was totally down, but I told him if we were to do this it had to be done right. Super official, completely legit. He agreed and we got to work on what would eventually become MidState Hoops LLC, my first venture. We were just a couple of kids. I was 16, he was 15. Our goal was to do something the state had never seen before in regards to high school basketball.

Our presentation was motivated by innovation. We believed that if we covered the sport and the state in a way it had never seen, we would grow our audience. Sure enough, our audience grew, as did our influence, and business opportunities. The latter was a bonus that we never thought about when we started. The opportunity to generate revenue was an afterthought in 2004 at inception.

From an early age I believed I would run a company, but I never thought about starting multiple companies. I did not realize that was something that would interest me. Looking back I clearly was developing a serial entrepreneurial pattern that I can’t say I realized about myself until my early 20s. I believe the earliest signs of this came from the iterations we were always going through with MSH. It seemed like every 10-12 months we were trying to refresh our brand, image, features, and products. We were never content with what we were doing. We were constantly evaluating ourselves in search of what we could do next, and how we could build on our success.

Our desire to do something new was an early indication of a desire to do different things in different categories beyond basketball. Constantly trying to improve something is only one step away from applying the same thought process to anything else that may come to mind of interest. These miniature idea blitz must have progressed my thinking beyond what I was currently working on into the possibilities I could reach out and grab.

MSH taught me a lot of things. I believe it is during this time I began to learn what to look for in a business partner; what type of people can work well in certain roles and situations.  This was instrumental in my later projects where I had to find talent to help me operate the companies.

I also learned that acting on ideas is important. Doing what everybody else is doing does not guarantee success. At most it offers an opportunity to function in a stable environment, with no chance to survive in a highly evolving one. Whether it pertained to high school basketball or something completely unrelated I learned that I should pursue the idea if I felt strongly about it, and its viability.

This is probably one of the most important lessons from the MidState Years. When people ask me how to start something I usually tell them if they believe in what it is they want to do then they should try to do it. It may work, and it may fail. At least you will know, and the lessons that will come from that experience can’t be taught in a classroom, from a book, or from a public speaker. Even if you fail you’ll be glad you tried, and the next time you have an idea you will be that much closer to knowing how to make it work.

There is no room for second place.
- Vince Lombardi

Whatever it means to fail, I’ve taken plenty of losses in my life. Whether it was a bad investment in the stock market or a bad business idea, I’ve taken plenty of losses taking chances. I’ve also had my share of successes. To fail goes beyond assets and value. There is something intrinsic about it. How does it affect you? How do you feel when it happens?

Many of my failures have come as a result of my willingness to lose. I probably have a higher risk tolerance than the average person, and so I am not afraid to almost completely blow something. I couldn’t do many of the things I have done if I were highly risk averse. At the same time, maybe that attitude can also be detrimental. My goal is to be more considerate of how I approach things in the future. This goes beyond investing.

If you fail take it as an opportunity to examine yourself, and your processes. Consider what happened. Did you see it coming? Was it avoidable? I have to say that many times, I did see it coming. Maybe too late to take an entirely different course of action, but often well enough in advance of the event. It may not be obvious, but I know when it seems quite possible. How can I see it coming and do nothing? Yet I know I have.

So what should we do when we fail? I think we have to be disappointed at the outcome. Whether we saw it coming or not we should not be satisfied with it. We should have an expectation of success. It is important to not settle for the initial result, but to desire to improve upon it, and eventually succeed. Always ask yourself for more.

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May your neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.
- Irish Proverb

Reasons this video is amazing:

1. The Hip Hop Preacher is a great motivational speaker. Check out his channel on Youtube here.

2. The Friday Night Lights (TV Show, one of my favorites) music playing in the background.

3. This video speaks to anyone who has ever worked to become a success, whatever that may mean to them. If you are a motivated person with goals, or even if you have dreams and just need a little push to try and make them happen you will enjoy this video.

Special thanks to @JDLibs for reminding me to do this post!