The first three months of the year typically go by in the blink of an eye. We spend New Years manifesting our goals, Black history month pushing ourselves forward and March, well, is truly madness. Then comes April 1st, and ironically, reality sets in. The reality of fatigue, struggles, and failures come to challenge and define the rest of our year. Ask Lebron James, who for 14+ years dominated in this time of the year when the playoffs started. Now he’s at home, even King James woke up today and faced failure in some form …

Well, now look in the mirror, did you make your playoffs? We often times fail to be intentional as to when it is time to be serious with our goals. Just as important, we fail to be aware of the time as it flies by and how valuable each moment is as we get ready for our playoffs. Yours might have began in January, began last year, or have been happening for the past 14 months. There’s one thing that is imperative to remember: at the end of the day, the only things that are in your control is your preparation and performance.

Now let’s talk about failure. Let’s talk about how it influences how we feel about who we are and more importantly who we can be. When we discuss failure we oftentimes see it as when one’s performance reflects their lack of preparation, but I feel like that is a failure of an attempt to define the word. Stop being so hard on yourself. Lebron James for the totality of his career has prepared and performed at a level that in spite of its greatness, leaves him with a 3-6 NBA finals record. Now you’ve prepared for your exam, your job, your upcoming game, and face the daunting reality that you may not be rewarded for your preparation, that your performance will be deserving of failure. Now what I am about to say may sound ridiculous but the best response to failure is joy.

Joy? Yes absolute joy. Failure is seen as a reflection of one’s performance when in reality it is a test of one’s resilience and drive to push through and move forward. To be 3-6 where others are 0-0 shows us that without failure there is no success, and in fact, one’s dreams are a testament of the multitude of failures that came to define an individual whose preparation and performance is one polished by the lessons and growth found in every failure. To respond to failure is in itself success. We find times in life where failure presents a barrier that we cannot overcome or a condition we cannot change. Failure always presents a mirror that forces us to reflect on ourselves in ways that allow us to see what things we can redefine through success. Some playoffs are 7 game series, some are only one, and each and every day we all prepare and perform to manifest all our dreams, however, to be great to be truly great depends on when the dust clears and failure stands between you and greatness. How will you respond? Wake up.

It’s Playoff Time..