Do It Now

These last two weeks were spent maneuvering an untimely injury. I had to watch my team drop two important games, the Portuguese Supercup and the first game of the Basketball Champions League.

These were absolutely brutal for me to watch, to just stand by, while my team needed me. I felt very helpless.

I came to this overwhelming realization that I have very little control over my journey.

I could look at this through the nihilist perspective (nothing I do really matters) and lose all motivation or…

I could look at this through the Atypical perspective (what matters is how I grow and learn) and use this situation to push me closer to my excellence.

We need to choose the latter if we want to achieve our dreams.

Let me talk you through some learnings that these two weeks have shown me.

Why I Do This:

I have huge admiration for everyone who serves in any branch of the military, especially in the US, but also for any country. This admiration stems from the sacrifice it takes to serve something greater than yourself.

There’s a commitment to a code, to a creed, to a country and the commitment is so deep that they are willing to sacrifice their life. That is something to be applauded and commended. The one caveat is that I do not necessarily agree with the code, creed, or country they serve, but goddamn I think it’s cool to find something in your life willing to die for.

So a quick shoutout to those military members serving a greater purpose, and doing so with their Atypical mindset as their internal compass.

You are my heroes.

Receiving this message was an honor.

Thoughts From This Week

Craft Your Wave

We made a trip to Manresa, Spain for the first round of the Basketball Champions League. The game got out of hand pretty quickly due to a whole storm of things. They were more physical, their fans were living and dying with the team, and their team had a clear identity.

treydrechsel

View more on Instagram

As the game got ugly for us, a valuable lesson became crystal clear.

When things are not going your way, it is easy to focus your energy on things that will not help you. I watched as my teammates started to give energy to the referees, to what their teammates did not do, and to how poorly they were playing individually.

Focusing on all these things makes the storm more intense.

It does nothing to shift the momentum.

It provides zero direction or problem-solving.

I had the luxury of observing the storm, but not being directly in it. This allowed me to ask the question:

How do you create positive momentum when it feels nothing, and I mean nothing, is going your way?

The answer I arrived at applies to basketball, but also to life as a whole…

Answer: Control the next thing directly in front of you. Do it right, no matter how small or basic it may seem. Don’t try to calm the whole storm, start with making a single ripple in your sphere of control.

Then do it again,

and again,

and again.

Ignore everything else besides what is right in front of you.

The more you can narrow down the next simplest problem, the more you simplify your route to positive momentum.

Solve the next simplest problem.

Okay, so we are down by 20 points and playing terrible.

Let’s win this next possession on defense.

They are running a ball screen, let’s follow our defensive scheme and defend this right.

It’s my job to be physical and pressure my man as he comes off this ball screen.

Do it.

We need active hands to discourage the pass to the short roll.

Do it.

On the scouting report, my man likes to throw bounce passes, my active hands need to be shading the bounce pass.

Do it.

Now imagine all 5 of the players on the floor are playing with this level of attention to the simplest of problems directly in front of them.

The mindsets begin to sync up.

This becomes a hive mind (bees in a beehive seem to have a universal consciousness).

Each player builds their own positive momentum despite all the mayhem going on around them.

The ripples start to build. They become more powerful.

They turn to waves.

The storm now has a formidable opponent.

The extra BS starts to solve itself.

This is how you craft your wave.

Start with the simplest thing you can identify. Do it right. Then do the next thing right. Repeat it over and over again.

Broaden your perspective and see how the storm has calmed and your wave has taken over.

Train Urgency

I get in these ruts sometimes where everything feels like a drag. All my “tasks” or “to-do’s” feel overwhelming. I know you guys have been in this mode or rut before.

For me, I can usually predict when I am trending toward a “rut”. The indicator is when I have not been knocking out the stuff I need to do. When I procrastinate even a bit, things start to pile up, what was once a small thing feels bigger because of the time that has piled on top of it.

I am able to speak on these ruts with a clear mind right now because I have not fallen into one in a good amount of time (probably 3-4 weeks). I began asking myself why I’ve been feeling so dialed in lately.

The answer was simple.

I have been knocking shit out right when I feel I need to. I have been living with a sense of urgency.

@elevatestart

Develop a sense of urgency ♠️

YouTube video needs some work? I do it right away.

Shot feels like it needs some extra balance work? I block out time to do it before practice.

Shoulder pain starting to resurface? I text the physio to schedule a rehab session.

Do not let things build up.

When you feel something needs to be done, do it right away. This action in itself is a repetition towards training your sense of urgency.

People who live with urgency will be more successful and fulfilled.

This is not because they accomplish more, but because what they accomplish does not feel as heavy.

Why?

Because they did not allow time spent not doing what is needed become a mental burden.

They live freer and lighter all while accomplishing more.

The key to avoid “ruts” is to train your urgency response.

You feel something needs to be done.

Do it.

Don’t overcomplicate it.

YouTube Drop

If you have been struggling with injuries or an obstacle in your life, then this YouTube video should help. I tried to be super transparent about the mental battles that happen when facing and injury. My hope is that this video can help some athletes feel less alone during the isolating feeling an injury brings.

I shared some adjustments to my days in terms of nutrition, training, and lifestyle that occur when injured.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Lucky You If You Are Still Reading…!

To reward all of you on that are still reading, I’ll let you get a sneak peek of the back decal on the new t-shirts that will be dropping in November. The design is still not finalized, but it’s getting closer. The big idea behind this design is an evolution to more. The 3-panel framework with the levels was inspired by my favorite childhood video game, Pokemon. The Atypical mindset is all about using our journey with basketball to become a greater person and we tried to embody that through this design!

Let me know what you guys think.

I’ll Leave You With This:

When injured, you have a lot of time to think.

I use this time to understand more the mindset that best solves this injury problem.

This injury is more or less solved.

I am back to practice this week and scheduled to play in the game on Saturday.

Let’s get back to cooking.

See you all on the court.

Trey