The Power of Taking Action

By Matt Amerlan

Director of Workforce Development

Positive Athlete

Last week at Positive Athlete we activated with two of our Strategic Alliances to hold two

powerful panel discussions at the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles 5th Annual Girls

Empowerment day. I was fortunate to attend this energy filled day personally and moderated

one of the discussions. Picture this, 6,000 girls from the Los Angeles metro area, the theme of empowerment filling the day, a perfect 75 degrees at Dignity Health Sports Park, a Friday (no school!), let me just say the energy was through the roof!

Our two panel discussions were held with our Strategic Alliance partners, the X Games and the Latino Association of Basketball Coaches. These were two powerful discussions with the

underlying theme being the importance of taking action for ourselves and how this is essential for success in any area of life.

There was a focus on the concept that “Nothing comes from nothing” and with a “take action”

mindset we can accomplish great things not just in sports, but in life and career. The

conversations were about empowerment through the lens of sports, but inevitably, true to our

belief at Positive Athlete of the athlete journey serving a dual purpose for life, the conversations delved into taking control of our destiny, reaching our potential in sport and how these same skills that help us dig deep in sport help us dig deep to achieve anything in life. No one else can do this for us, we must do this for ourselves. We made this clear in the opening of our Latino Association of Basketball Coaches panel with a powerful saying that holds true, “Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar” — Traveler, there is no path, the path is made by walking.

It is empowering to think about this concept. We are individuals in this world, our path is not

fixed, we have the ability to take action and forge our own path and our own way. Nobody can do this for us. A recent January article from the Basketball Network discusses how Stephen Curry at the age of 13 made a pragmatic decision to step away from AAU basketball and focus on his school team and the development of his skills. Taking action for himself and making this decision to take a “breather from the circuit” worked out for him. He identified an action that he needed to take for himself to help him get to his ultimate goal. Curry shares in the article that, “I was such a late bloomer, like physically I could not keep up”. This realization led to him taking action for himself and stepping away from the “conventional AAU route”.

In the article Curry goes on to explain relative to stepping away from AAU, “it wasn’t doing me any good to get out there and just get bulldozed every game”. Curry took action, made a choice that was right for him and the rest is history. We can’t say for sure things would have turned out differently for him, but it is fascinating to think about if he did not make that decision and take action for himself, how things might have been different? Does he get burned out, discouraged, not able to focus on the skills part of the game that ultimately has set him apart?

Every path is different. The important thing to understand is that we are the creator of our path and that it is only us that can truly take action for ourselves to shape that path to get us to our goal. For some the path is more linear, for others it is more of a zigzag. To reach our ultimate goal (whatever it may be) and to “put the ball in the hoop”, sometimes we can go straight down the lane, other times we need to crossover, step to the side, pass to a teammate, or take a step back. Only we can make the choices that ultimately put us in a position to put the ball in the hoop.

Dual Threat Playbook Tip: There are many ways to get to the rim, but only you can take action to get there.