Your 2ndChance at a First Impression: Start Where You Are

It's not enough to have natural talent. It's not enough to be smart. It's not enough. None of it is enough until you do something with it.

Two years ago for my birthday, June 29th - yes you are welcome to send gifts, I gave myself the gift of the US Open. I used AirBnB and stayed in a brownstone in Harlem and checked the US Open and seeing Venus and Serena Williams play tennis off of my bucket list.

The Event itself is spectacular but what made my heart stop was to look up and see the name on the side of one of the center courts, the Arthur Ashe Stadium. In addition there is the plaque with his tennis record and the Foundation in his name that was hosting an event in addition to the Arthur Ashe Kids day which is hosted during the first day of the US Open.

The grandeur, the pomp and circumstance and Arthur Ashe was just a kid who lived close to the home I grew up in. He was the kid that the neighbors knew but I'd never met. They said he was the scrawny tennis boy but they said it with pride. His impact is immortalized in a statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond, there is a sports center in his name locally but internationally his stadium and the Jr Tennis division all show and bear the direct impact of his life.

How does one go from losing one's mother and being held back because of the color of your skin to receiving the Presidential Medal of Honor and being the first person that Nelson Mandela wanted to meet after being freed from prison. As Ashe put it you, "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

What hinderances are we allowing to limit our greatness? The answer to our success really is just this simple. Set your goal and then just get started. Take the skills, gifts and talents that you have and use them. But never let what you accomplish be enough. Add to your talents education. Education is to be found in the classroom but also in the classroom of the world. Learn from your neighbors. And whenever the challenge seems too great then place your focus on the spot in front of you. Conquer where you are and then move on to the next step. If you maintain that focus you will be amazed when you look up and look back to see how far you've come.

Start where you are and then NEVER STOP!