What it Means to be a Professional

I would consider myself a pretty hard and diligent worker. I would go as far as saying I work my ass off. Recently at practice I was told by Skylar that “you are not going hard enough!”. It completely caught me off guard. He continued to say “you are not training like a professional”.

I took it pretty personal. Initially I would have thoughts like “who are you to tell me that” or “that is just not true”. If you are someone that knows Skylar personally, like much of Denver Beach Volleyball does, you know that he doesn’t care what your excuse is for not producing results. Fair enough.

I took a step back to think about what he really meant. He was referring not to just showing up to practice, but what kind of intention and fire you are brining. Skylar once told me something so crazy to most people yet it makes sense to me if you are trying to get where I want to go. He said “you have to play every point like your house is on the line”. Pretty intense for the average person, but that is the mindset of a winner.

So the lesson learned here is showing up to practice consistently is only half of the battle. It doesn’t matter if you are playing with top tier guys at practice or people just really getting into the nuts and bolts of the game. If you really want to make that next jump your intention has to be at the next level. That is what is means to be a professional.