What we practice, we become.

What does this mean? We say it a lot, but I'll share a little bit about this mantra with a quick story:

My footwear career oddly started the day I committed to sobriety. I was told that if I wanted to become a "sober person", then I would have to play the part. This entailed one simple piece of advise: Do the thing you don't want to do, and you will succeed 90% of the time. 

Those odds were good for me. I took it literally beginning with daily commitments to go to my outpatient groups in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Eventually, I became aware that what I didn't want to do, became things that frightened me. At the time, I owned and operated a small hotdog parlour in Lake Charles called Botskys. The thing that scared me the most was playing music in front of an audience. What kind of a musician gets a degree from Berklee College of Music and doesn't have the esteem to play in front of people? That was me. 

What did I do? I committed to selling my restaurant, and focus on myself. I began with free gigs at the coffee shop on Sunday's, then graduated into paying gigs. After a few months I was playing in all the major casinos and restaurants in the area. I never would have known that along the way, I would find running, and ultimately kept having these thoughts such as, "I'd never be able to do that with my life." Fuel. Located another thing that scared me, but this time it was a big one. A total shift. Do the thing you don't want to do (or scares you the most).

Life is a strange thing, but if we aren't living (growing), we're dying. This is the dance that is "what we practice, we become." 

We don't become the men and women we want to become by playing it safe. We get there by doing the thing that scares us and challenges us to accept new possibilities. This happens despite the knowledge of where we will end up. Trust the process. 

I share my story, because I believe anybody can start their own shoe company (if that is the thing that scares them to do). I believe that anybody can become an astronaut or colonize another uncharted territory. I believe we can become Michelin star chefs. I don't know if we're owed these things, but I do know that momentum is the key to success... Just keep going. Practice, what you want to become. 

I believe in your ability to lean into the things that scare you. 

_michael