Stanley Johnson
“Any time you’re staying in the same place, you’re also moving backwards. While you stay stagnant, everything else is moving forwards, including time and your opponents. If you’re not trying to improve each day, even if it’s only a centimetre, you’re putting yourself behind.”
Not even 24 hours after their victory against the Boston Celtics, we sat down with Stanley Johnson of the Toronto Raptors, to chat success, truth, and what it means to be a team player.
After having defeated their opponents the night before, Stanley Johnson made it clear, that celebrating success isn’t something to revel in for too long; just as losses aren’t meant to be dwelled upon. Reaching new heights each day, while never getting too comfortable in one’s position, is the only way to continue achieving and staying on top and ahead of the game.
“Wins are celebrated, they help us grow as a team and as individuals.”, stated Stanley. “But so do the losses; everything can be learned from and reflected on. Win or lose, we come back stronger.”Strength found in Stumbling;
Being able to learn from our mistakes, trials and challenges isn’t always an easy task. Our ability to reflect on the past, in order to make proper changes for the desired future, is like a muscle that needs to be strengthened.
Fortunately for Stanley, he’s been practicing these skills for quite some time, close to ten years to be exact.
This practice of strengthening through the stumble began in 2012, when Stanley was playing on the FIBA Under- 17 National team, and ‘completely blew it.’
“I was playing well the whole tournament, and then I just blew it. For about 45 minutes of my life, it was as if I had forgotten how to play basketball.”
Disappointed and dissatisfied with his performance, Stanley made a promise to himself and his coach that from that point onward, he would do whatever it took to never let his team, or himself down again.
“I went to my trainer’s office after the game, so frustrated with myself, and I told him that it would never happen again.
I said it, and I meant it. From that moment, I started working extremely, extremely hard. I was up every day at 6am, putting in overtime to make sure I was getting the results I wanted.”
When we use painful experiences as opportunities to reflect, reconnect, and remind ourselves why we do what we do, we leave space for growth and development to take place. Our hurt can be harnessed to our advantage, but ‘It’s not just about wanting to change’, says Stanley.
“It’s easy for people to say that they want ‘this or that’, but at some point in time, you have to really reach out and touch your goal.
You may not be able to grab it right away, but it’s the reach and the touch that can turn your goal into reality.”
If you want it, you can have it. But first, you must put in the work. Putting in the work means falling time after time, only to get back up. Putting in the work means hearing, ‘no you can’t’, ten times, while telling ourselves ‘yes I can’, eleven.
Far too often, our dreams and desires become crushed and crumpled by our failures. If we could truly start to believe in our power, we would begin to grasp that failure is an opportunity, but only when acted upon.
Team Player;
Like individual losses, when a team loses, so does its players. In the game of basket ball, each player has an important role to play, bringing something valuable and diverse to the court.
But it’s not only what happens on the court that matters; the majority of the work and dedication, takes place when fans aren’t watching and cheering.
Team work takes place ‘every single day’, says Stanley. Being professional, accountable, and reliable, are key components that make a team strong and assure them that they can count on you to perform your best.
You Are What You Eat;
In other words, you are what you think.
Our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions, and our actions shape our realities. For those of us who are avid readers, I’m sure these statements have been heard in countless self-development books, but for Stanley, this concept was grasped long before it started trending globally.
“My dad used to always say, ‘as a man thinketh, so is he.’
Which basically means that whatever you think to be true, and whatever you believe to be true, becomes your truth.
If you can think it, you can do it, and don’t ever let anybody tell you differently.”
100% True;
We asked Stanley what he knows 100% to be true, his answer;
“God’s love is real.
I know that to be one hundred percent true; it may be the only thing that I know to be one hundred percent true.”
At TrooMe, we believe that we are loved and chosen. To be loved is an amazing gift, a gift that we must honor by being loving individuals, towards ourselves and towards one another.
May we follow Stanley’s example of putting in the work to reach our goals, learning from our mistakes, and if someone tells us ‘we can’t do it’, wish them well, while we prove them wrong.
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