5 AM

My older cousin used to train me when I was in middle school and high school.

He would wake me up at 5 AM and take me to the gym and we would put in WORK in the summer.

At first, I HATED it.  This was my summer vacation.  I wanted to sleep in and enjoy it.

But then I got used to it and started to attack the workouts.

That was the foundation that I used to become a college basketball player.

Looking back, I am thankful because that taught me how to get up, get uncomfortable, and to work for my dreams.

When I was 14 years old, he told me that I was one of the better kids in my area, but he said that all this means is that other kids were going to be coming for me.  Other kids were going to start waking up at 5 in the morning to catch me, and if I didn't keep working, they would pass me up and they would all talk about how good I used to be.

But he said if I keep working, then they would say, 'man, he is good now, but he has ALWAYS been good.'

If I could change one thing about growing up, I would say that I wish that I was more consistent with those 5 AM workouts.

You get out of sports what you put into them.  The more you work, the harder you work, the smarter you work, the more efficient your training is and the more effective your training is, the more that you will get out of it.

"Show me your habits and show me your routine and I will show you where you are going in life."