Congratulations to Baylor for going a perfect 40-0 and winning the championship. I know they worked hard for it, and it’s great to see that hard work pay off. Congratulations as well to Notre Dame for reaching the finals their second year in a row. I know they will come back hungrier than ever next year to win a title.

What do you do when you lose or make a bad decision at a pivotal point? Do you hang your head and wallow in self pity, get angry at the others around you, give up? When I was younger, I would get angry. I remember my senior year of college we were playing in a tournament and all we had to do was get past this one team and we could move on. We had played this team all year, and the games had been really close. I poured my heart and soul into that game. I played some of the best defense of my life. But as the saying goes there is no I in team. I couldn’t carry the team by myself. We were up at the end of the game but then our team got foul happy. We ended up losing the game by one point. I was upset. I was angry and even snapped at a few people after the game. It hurt to lose that way. To be so close and then all of sudden denied. I had to change. I had to grow up.

Now, my MO is this: I acknowledge my hurt. I acknowledge the fact that yeah, I lost or yeah, I made a wrong decision. After that I analyze the situation for areas in which I need to improve. Then I forget about it. I let it go. You can’t dwell on the bad because that will just pull and keep you down. When you let it go, you get back up. You go back to work, you get better and resolve within yourself that next time will be better. Next time you’ll get it. Next time you’ll succeed. It’s important to state that success may not come exactly the next time. It may take you weeks, months years to finally succeed. But you cannot let your seeming failure deter you. You have to keep pushing and forging ahead never looking back. In every failure you learn and grow stronger. You learn what works and what does not work. So while the next time may not be a complete success, you are not making the same mistakes, and you are putting all the pieces together to finally be completely successful.

Skylar Diggins has this mentality of going to work. After the loss last year in the title game, she worked hard and got better. It may not have ended with a national title this year, but she’s just putting the pieces together. You can guarantee she will work even harder this offseason and come back really hungry for the title next year. I’m learning that success happens as long as you stay hungry and work for it. If you get complacent or give up, success will continue to elude you. You may be moments, inches away from succeeding, but if you give up you will never see that success. Keep going, keep pushing, keep working, keep your head up. Stay positive. You will succeed.