In November of last year, I sat in my apartment here in northern Germany and began to seriously ponder my life. My life has been a blessed one. From a very early age, I always had a dream of becoming a professional athlete. And for the last eleven years, that dream has been my reality. But somehow, on that day, I was feeling out of place. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt this way, but the word I would use to describe that feeling is ‘unfulfilled.’ Have you ever felt like your life doesn’t reflect the things you feel inside of yourself? Or that there is so much more that you can be offering to the world? Well that’s where I was at. I knew that there had to be more to life than what I was experiencing. Actually, I’ve felt that way a few times in my life, but this time was different. This time I was really prepared for a change. I’d been moving through life with no real direction, not fully realizing who I actually am. I knew it was time for an adjustment.
I turned on YouTube and stumbled across a video about management from the late Dr Myles Munroe. In the video, he said something that caught my attention. He said, “Whatever you fail to manage, you’ll lose.” That statement challenged me to take a hard look at my life and how I was managing my time, money, relationships and things I possessed. My assessment didn’t produce favorable results. Actually, I concluded that I was quite wasteful and didn’t manage very well at all. The reality of my level of responsibility wasn’t an easy one to accept, but by this time, my desire to become who I actually am outweighed the ego that tried to flare up.
Think about it. We all want to have nice things in life, but how are we taking care of the things we currently have? We all want a nice car, but what message does it convey when the car we have now is always dirty, inside and out. We want a nice house, but do we really expect better when we don’t value the apartment we live in? Life is less about wanting and finding, and more about becoming and attracting. We don’t get what we want, we get what we are. Oftentimes, we say we will do better when we get better things, but the truth is, how we do anything is most likely how we do everything. The things we manage well, we’ll attract. The things we mismanage, we’ll lose.
One of the hardest things for individuals to do in life is self-assess. Nobody wants to see themselves outside of the ‘curated’ light. We show the best parts of who we are to the world. But in order to really grow, self-reflection is vital. It was from this self-assessment that my entire life began to change, one step at a time. I knew that it would be a process that wouldn’t be easy, but I was ready to make the change at all costs. I was tired of living life in the same cycles over and over. I’d been winning my entire life on the court, but now, I was ready to start winning from within.
Outside the sports world, execution was a concept that had been escaping me for almost my entire life. Throughout the years, I had come up with many ideas, yet never finished any of them. It was evident that this had to be different if I wanted to see proper growth in my life. Discipline was going to be a key component. I thought to myself, “But where should I start?” The answer to my question came swiftly and naturally, “right where I’m at.”
Up until that point, I hadn’t created any sort of positive habits in my life. Not knowing where to start, I thought of what I could do to begin my day. So, the very first thing I challenged myself to do was simply make my bed every morning. I know that sounds simple or maybe even like a joke, but for me it was taking a step in the right direction. It wasn’t really even about the bed; it was more about creating a habit of discipline and consistency. I mastered it. I haven’t missed a day for this entire 2021. I even found myself making the bed in hotel rooms when we travel!! From there, I was able to habit stack. I’ve gone from trying to read a book every day to becoming a full-blown reader. I love it. I also began to journal. That process helped me become a better writer. I use to never write before that. Putting thought to paper is a big part of my life now.
The cool thing is that with each daily win, I could feel the momentum of life begin to shift in my favor. I created a morning routine and a daily 8 (Read, pray, affirm, breathe, drink water, stretch, journal, work on my business). Setting the tone for my day in the morning has transformed how my days go. And even on the days where things don’t go as planned, knowing that I hit my daily goals helps me to still feel like the day has been won. It’s really a gamechanger.
The process didn’t stop there though. Each day, I was learning new ways to stretch myself just a little bit more. That stretching lead to new exposures, investments, relationships, and ultimately the creation of my first business, Competition of ONE. It was beautiful because it was organic. My work is just an extension of me, an extension I would have never found had I not made the choice to make a change in my life.
Now I have a new hunger, my business. Competition of ONE was founded on eight pillars. I call them The 8 Practices. Those practices are all mentioned throughout this blog post, but I want to shine a direct light on them. These are the principles that I leaned on during this entire process, and they are the pillars that are now solidified in my life. T.H.E E.I.G.H.T. It’s an acronym that stands for time, habits, environment, exposure, investment, gratitude, hunger, transformation. The culmination of putting all eight into practice has led me to this point in my life, launching a business, writing my first book, and offering products that I believe will help others on this journey. The 8 Practices guided me in building a sustainable momentum in my own life. Separately, they breed progress, but together, it’s a formula for taking life to new heights.
I’m Josh Young, founder of the Competition of ONE. I’m an 11-year professional basketball player who has spent the last decade living and playing abroad. I’ve spent my entire life competing in various sports, against numerous opponents all over the world. Winning has always been a part of my story. But now, I want to take that same attitude and apply it to my life, and yours. My desire is to simply show people HOW TO WIN and do it by becoming the greatness that lives inside of you. Competition of ONE doesn’t focus on opponents, adversities, or circumstances, but directs the focus within by creating a culture, a mindset, a discipline, a work ethic, a confidence that is able to sustain us through this journey of life. Competition of ONE is a mindset. It’s a culture. It’s a movement. It’s is a way of life. Welcome to the COMPETITION OF ONE.
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