DO WHAT YOU LIKE

I've been blessed to be a part of a book this year called "Dreampions" which is about people who have reached their personal dreams. It is a compilation of short articles written by people who share their individual stories on how they personally got to grab their dreams and chase them until they caught them.

I finally received the book this week and have been reading through it, enjoying one story at a time. It is so interesting to read about different people of different background and in different paths of life, who all are dreaming their dreams. 

Henry Wedell, one of the editors of this books says this:

Background is that Verena and I always liked to "give back" via projects that were not directly linked to our profession as Finance experts. This time, we embarked on a project on the topic of "live dreams". We started off by asking people who had fulfilled their individual life dreams, if they were willing to tell their stories in a book. Their reaction was overly positive and now our book is filled with 25 stories from prominent and not-prominent people that have made it to their dream jobs, moved to or visited dream locations or fulfill their dreams by helping those in need. Amongst others, there is an Olympic rowing gold medal winner, a former NHL-Pro, a former WNBA-Pro who now works with girls in her hometown, Europe's most successful game developer, the European speaking champion, ... and people who moved to the US and even China to fulfill their dreams.

Important was for us to highlight that rewarding dreams are not so much about material possessions but about experiences, growth and helping others. Therefore, we have a dedicated chapter with people who achieve their dreams by helping others to fulfill theirs (e.g. a development supporter working with the poor in Africa, the R&D leader of the worlds biggest company for mobility prothetics and a German TV-moderator who is the country's UNICEF ambassador. The preface for the book is by the CEO of "Welthungerhilfe", the large German-based company who prevents people in Africa from starvation.

Even though the stories are very individual and different, the way to success appears to be be very similar most of the time. 

I loved how Juliane Wurm, a German World Champion in climbing put it. She said, "In athletics and in many other areas of life a cycle exists: when you really love doing something, there is a higher motivation for practicing it. When you practice a lot, success follows. And when you are successful, you really enjoy doing it.... and the cycle is back at the start." Words of wisdom for our #WisdomWednesday from a young athlete who has proven to be the best in her sport in the whole wide world!!!

I want to challenge you this week to identify what you love to do. How can that be integrated into your daily life? Do you have to make some sacrifices, or changes in your life to live your dream with all that it entails every day?

P.S.: You can purchase it on Amazon in Kindle or paperback versions

FACTS ABOUT COLLEGE AND THE PROS!

This past weekend the Fro13 Highschool teams started off their season at the 5th annual Linda Fröhlich Invitational (LFI). It’s the season of hard work, extra grinding, high hopes and unfortunately lots of misleading guidance.

I am shocked to see the false information or fluffy realities that are being sold to young athletes and their families, which in turn lead into unrealistic goals and expectations- and can then quickly turn into a nightmare for any Highschool coach in the upcoming season. A vicious cycle has started spinning, and most of the time won't stop spinning until it is too late, or a lot of time (and money) gets wasted with chasing hot air.
Let’s look at some stats to get a clearer understanding of what I am talking about.

In 2013-14 there were 433,344 active female Highschool basketball players and only 3.8% made it onto a college roster. That resulted in approx. 16319 active NCAA players.

 
After 2% of Highschool athletes are awarded some form of athletic scholarships, it is actually as little as 1% of women's basketball players who will receive full-ride scholarships.That means out of 16319 active NCAA women's basketball players in 2014 only 163 received full scholarships.
After college athletics are done, 0.9% of female college players will then get drafted into the WNBA… and even there the drafted players, except maybe the top 10 players, have no guarantee on actually making an actual WNBA roster that year.

(Use your due diligence and check the facts if you don't believe me!)

With that being said:
I believe that it is important that we as role models and leader in the lives of these young women have to focus on supporting their dreams but also on giving them a real picture of the road ahead (and all the work, sacrifice, etc. that come with it).

We need to encourage them to reach for the stars in the basketball sky, yet inspire them to become well rounded young ladies who can conquer the world with values and skills they acquired through the sport of basketball.

And while only a few may make it to the "Big Time", everyone should "Be Big Time"!

ASSESSING A RECRUIT'S PARENT

Building a basketball academy has been challenging in ways that I could've never expected. I thought it would be as simple as teaching a girl how to shoot a lay up or footwork on defense, but it has been a lot more complex than that. As a competitor, I DO LOVE THE CHALLENGE that comes with it. Dealing and communicating with parents of the athletes has been a big part of my daily job now. I thought that this video was very interesting and I wanted to share it with everyone. I am not sure how many parents are aware of this ‪#‎foodforthought‬