December's "To Do" List

There are so many things that can take place during a season overseas. Things that you wish you could fully express in any way possible, but that’s not always the smartest way to go about it, if you want to keep your job or get another one in the future anyways. So you have to come up with ways to either express yourself, or to just keep your head above water and remain motivated while these things are occurring on the court.

I was recently asked, “what do you do to keep busy or to keep your sanity?” And the answer is simple… ANYTHING! I try to be open and try new things. Does it always work out that way? Not at all, but I try. I make a lot of lists no matter where I am, but it’s multiplied by 10 whenever I’m overseas hoopin’. These lists range in many ways but I’ll give you some insight on what a list at the beginning of the month looks like for me.

Top 10 Things To Accomplish In December

1.) Go 2 weeks with NO MEAT (I am currently on Day 5, not sure if this will be 14 days consecutively or just 14 days throughout the month)

2.) Finish reading The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*%$

3.) Listen to 10 new podcast episodes

4.)Send at least 15 networking emails

5.) Record 4 Podcast episodes

6.) Write at least 4 blog posts (this will be the 1 out of 4 right here)

7.) Go at least 7 days with NO SOCIAL MEDIA (sometimes that’s A LOT to ask while overseas)

8.) Explore a different part of the city

9.) Find a new pair of basketball shoes

10.)  Get everyone’s Christmas gifts sent to the house

And now that the list will be posted for the world to see, feel free to hold me accountable! 

I have had seasons in the past where I felt like I just “wasted” time doing absolutely nothing during my free time. I would literally eat, sleep, hoop, and binge watch things. And some people are ok with that, but I think I did that to past time as much as possible because I was not happy with everything else going on in my life. So maybe that was the way I coped with it. But these days I just have so many goals I am going after and things I want to put in place, that I hate feeling like my free time is wasted.

If you were to ever catch me walking somewhere, I usually have a backpack on me that has a couple of books and my laptop. When I first started playing abroad, back in 2008, I did not have my own vehicle to get around. I was either on a train or tram, or waiting for people in order to make a move. And I would be bored to say the least. At this time everyone and their mom didn’t own a smart phone, so unless I had my music (Ipod Touch) on me, there wasn’t much to occupy my idle time while I was on the go. So I started bringing a book with me everywhere I went. Then that grew into a book to read and also a notebook. 

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However, I found that everyone around me was always so CURIOUS…a.k.a nosey as hell, which did not really allow me to focus and just write down things because people were always over my shoulder. But I still brought a notebook with me, but now I also brought a word search book. And over the years my backpack has started to fill up but I make sure I am always ready for whatever comes my way. I might actually add a new item every season if I think about it. We are now up to a book to read, a notebook, word search book, laptop, camera, portable hard drive, Ipad, and disinfectant wipes. Can’t forget about the wipes!

"You can't use up creativity, the more you use, the more you have."

- Maya Angelou