You Need To Fail To Elevate - Steven Perry's Journey

I PROMISE if you read this to the end there will be a gift for you! ;). And just a heads up, I talk like a "Toronto Man". I'm told that our slang is a little bit hard to understand sometimes for other people so bear with me. But without further ado, lets get into the article:

Cut from the team. Ten years in a sport with no results. Failed business. Switching passions back and forth. Where am I now? Doing what I love, creating videos that make people laugh.

You should all know me by now and if you don't you're slacking hard. But for those few that don't, I'm Steven Perry. I've been told I'm a funny guy, but don't take my word for it find out for yourself. My Instagram is @stevenperry7 (little plug to start us off ;D). On a real note, I think I've failed more than anyone I know. To really understand where I'm coming from we need to go back somewhere close to the beginning.

Somewhere Close to the Beginning:

So I'm a seven year old kid, looking like a bootleg Harry Potter (literally everything is identical except for the scar) trying to play basketball. Hooping on my LittleTikes net outside with zero bounce. When I say zero I mean ZERO. I couldn't even dunk the ball and the net was five feet tall. I think I was 5'3" at the time. I'll let that sink in for a second...yea I know right my vertical was negative 3 inches...okay we bless, now back to the story. So, even with a negative 3 inch vertical I still pursued my dream of playing in the NBA. Now before you judge me just remember that I put in serious work throughout the years. I might seem like all fun and games but when it comes down to the work I take it very seriously (just not in school, don't tell my mom). So, I worked on my game for four hours everyday for about a year or two. At this point I started to actually play in house league but struggled to battle the nerves in my body. The game moved a little too fast for me (remember -3 inch vertical) but I could always shoot. Every now and then I'd hit a jumper or two and talk my talk saying I dropped 2 buckets on your head. That ended quickly once I got caught in a poster, anyways that's for a different day. Safe to say I had troubles battling my own mind and thoughts. At this point my obstacle was myself.

Fast forward a few years to eighth grade. I started on my team and I'll never forget the first game where I air-balled a lay-up right in front of my mom in the stands (I think that was the first time my mom heard me say the f-word) and I ended the game with 0 points. But this is where things started to pick up, because in our first and last tournament (did I mention this was grade 8 so the school paid for no games) I played the best basketball I had played up to this point. In one game I had at least 18-20 points. We had a total of four games that day and won two out of three. The game we lost was 47-7 (don't peep that). What changed? Two weeks before that I was struggling to perform anywhere close to my potential to performing better than I thought I would. I started to point the finger at myself. I thought long and hard (that's what she said! LOL does anyone still make that joke? DM me and let me know) and told myself I've blamed everything and everyone for my terrible performance. Once I started focusing on what I could control and on having the courage to take the shots I knew I could make, things started to work out. Didn't happen right away though, I missed my first three shots in the game but I forced myself to take one more and it went in and the rest of the game went well for myself. (I think at this point you can tell I'm not a team player, I didn't say we once).

Now fast forward a few more years. At this point I'm in my last year of high school and things aren't looking very promising (They're better then they started though, my vertical is now at +3 inches (: ). However, I had a few really good games and each time I kept reflecting on what was different to see if I could replicate it. I think looking back at it now, the two reasons I experienced these good games is because I focused on two things:

1) I only cared about what I was thinking.

2) I played for myself, in other words, I played because I enjoyed it.

I had a hunch of it then but I am almost certain now. It only took me ten years of hard work and struggles, a business I started then quit, and a lot of time finding myself to really put my finger on it. These two factors are my recipe for success! My proof is that at this point in my life I started to achieve success in an area that I didn't even know I was passionate about. I have been creating Instagram and YouTube videos for about a month and a half now and the support I have gained is incredible. My most popular video on Instagram has just over 15,000 views and second to that is 9,000. The reason why I mentioned this is because I am just beginning with these videos. But because I applied those two mindset changes (in case you did that thing where your eyes continue down the page but your mind drifts, I mentioned them above so go back and read them) I had the courage to not only put out the videos, but to have any failures or 'Ls' not affect me. (The real question, is it affect or effect??)

Furthermore, (wow big word there) I only put out videos if I think they are funny. If I don't think a video is funny it's not getting posted. However, I'm here talking about my story and wrapping it up with a positive ending but the truth is I still get in my way from time to time. The key for me is to stay focused and have tunnel vision.

(Okay I've rambled on a bit too much, I know I know, time for the conclusion don't worry)

So, the ultimate take away from this before you get your gift, is that all failure is a teaching point. I think if you take time right now to look at where you are and where you want to be, and you actually take responsibility for your results (I know 'responsibility' such a scary word), you will find that a lot of the obstacles in your way are because of you. You're holding yourself back. Now I know that there are actual obstacles holding people back such as money, family, jobs, relationships, ect. But I would say that 85% of the time, if not higher, the reason you aren't progressing towards your goal is because you are in your own way. So before you leave and receive your gift, I want you to take five minutes right now and think, what is really holding me back? What can I learn from my failures? And how can I adjust my mindset to overcome this?

Adopting this mindset has made me a lot happier and it continues to help me to progress towards my goals. Please ask yourself those questions, you'll thank me later.

Have a good day :) and don't be shy, check out my Instagram videos @stevenperry7

(Had to plug again for those that didn't stop everything they were doing to add me on IG, I know you're not one of those people tho, you added me the first time! :D)

Now here's your gift...you ready?!.....

Here's a cookie!!

Hopefully Austin puts the cookie emoji here (I didn't) and if he doesn't you should all email him asking for a free cookie with your next purchase (don't)!

Use my discount code: Perry15 to get 15% off and a free cookie :)

(Another plug, this one was way more slick tho don't even lie)