A By-Product of Pursuing Your Dreams

When the NBA hired Becky Hammon as the first female full-time assistant coach and the NBPA hired Michele Roberts as the first female to lead a men’s professional sports union.  These hires are examples of a universal truth I share with the people I coach and the audiences I speak to the key to dreaming, deciding and doing is to pursue your purpose and passions without succumbing to stereotypes, naysayers, that voice in your head that is saying you cannot do it and removable barriers.

Stereotypes that come to mind related to Becky, Michele and other women who have broken down barriers in sports include: “women should only coach women” and “women are not supposed to lead male organizations.” The naysayers are the ones who say things like “a male professional athlete will never listen to a woman.” That voice in your head is the one that resides in fear and demands that you not pursue your dreams. The removable barriers are all of the above and more. They are the obstacles that appear along the way to stop you from realizing your calling.

I am certain that at some point in both of their lives, Michele and Becky faced some, if not all, of these challenges. But in spite of the challenges they faced, they both embraced their passion and purpose and in doing so were hired for their respective positions. Michele and Becky are trailblazers for girls and women. Yes, a by-product of pushing past obstacles and pursuing and realizing your dreams is that you then have the capacity to change your community, the nation and the world.

The message that these hirings and others like it send to my daughter and to girls and women everywhere is that you should boldly pursue your purpose and passion. Although you will be faced with obstacles along the way, these are simply removable barriers that you have the ability to push past to become the highest expression of yourself. In doing so, you will not only achieve your own goals and dreams but you will pave the way for the girls and women who come behind you to do the same.