The Pro Journey

A baller's story from intense struggle and failure to achieving his dreams

Form the Habits of Greatness

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Michael Jordan was said to have woken up at 6 AM everyday during his Junior Year in High School because he was cut from the team the previous year due to being only 5’11”. So his Coach said if he came in and practiced with his Coach at 6 AM everyday for a year then he would consider bringing Michael on the team.

Kobe Bryant was said to have practice for 7 hours to get shots up before his Olympic Team practice. He did called up his trainer to get some conditioning in, then his trainer went back to his hotel to sleep before their 11 AM practice. Immediately after, Kobe started getting shots up. When his trainer came back, he asked Kobe “When did you finish?”

Kobe goes “Finish what?”

Trainer – “Shooting?”

Kobe – “Oh just now. I wanted to make 800 shots. So yeah.” Wow, when I first read that story I was in awe. That just shows point black why Kobe is one of the greatest players in the world. The greatest player in the world (at a period in his career) getting up 800 shots to get better? If Kobe is going that hard to get better what do you think we have to do? Right, we have to go harder. Greatness does not come easy. You must pour heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears into what you love most. Without that type of hardwork and dedication you will won’t complete a fraction of you could achieve. Believe that.

Check out the article with this story: http://www.businessinsider.com/kobe-bryant-woke-up-at-4-am-to-practice-before-olympics-2013-3

Chris Paul wakes up at 4:30 AM to train since as he says “it shows I have discipline. Somedays I don’t want to get out of bed but I tell myself, this is what I love to do and I must get better. So lets roll.”

I myself woke up at 5 AM almost every day while in Mongolia to run and then do my ballhandling, and shooting drills right after. In addition to my run in the morning I would fill myself with gratitude and visualize me being one of the best overseas professional Basketball point guards to have ever played the game. I worked out for 6-8 hours everyday to perfect my craft, get better, stronger, faster and smarter.

To become great you must learn from the greats and apply what they did into your life. As they say, “Greatness comes form within”. You have to be willing to get uncomfortable to become great.

It all starts with forming great habits. And what I mean by habits is: waking up at 5-6 AM to go workout, eating 3-4 healthy meals a day, drinking lots of water, studying the game, doing your ball handling drills, form shooting, game-speed shooting drills, doing your suicides or 17s to say in shape, timing yourself so you beat your time on the next set, doing your agility workouts, filming and studying your technique so you can improve it the next time.

As I mentioned in my previous post, it takes 67 days to form a new Habit. Millions of people make New Years resolutions but 99% of people never follow through with their resolutions because after the 1st month they go back to either smoking, binge eating, sleeping late, thinking negative, etc. I challenge you to form one, two or three new habits in the next 67 days. For me, it began with waking up at 5 AM, eating super healthy foods, and working on my game every day. In fact, after 21 days these 3 things became a habit for me and ever since then I’ve been doing them every single day.

What habit or habits are you willing to commit to making permanent in the next 67 days? Let me know in the comment section below. I’d love to hear your goals, thoughts and help you if you have any questions about how to start.

See you on the next post!

Anything Is Possible

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“Anything Is Possible” – keep telling yourself that everyday, especially when you are feeling hopeless or struggling.

30 Day Positive Mental Challenge. The challenge is to have positive thoughts for 30 days straight without one negative thought ever crossing your mind. If you do get a negative thought then you just start over to Day 1. This is a challenge I learned from Jim Rohn, one of the top Self Help Leaders in the world.

Also, in order to imprint this “Anything Is Possible” mentality you must form new solid habits. According to Cambridge, England it takes 66 days to form a new habit

One of my favorite Motivational speakers is Les Brown and his most famous mantra is: “It’s Possible”. Whenever you’re feeling down and hopeless tell yourself “It’s Possible”. This will uplift your spirits and attitude faster than anything and will put your mind in Problem Solving and Opportunity finding mode rather than depression mode.

Kevin Garnett – long time Former Boston Celtic Champion yelled out when he won the NBA Championship – “Anything Is Possible”! And for Garnett he worked so hard coming out of High School into the NBA for many years to try and win a Championship. But for many of those years he did have any championships under his belt. But by continue to work hard, staying positive, mentally strong, being a leader and getting better with the help of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rondo and Doc Rivers he was finally able to win his 1st Championship. And as soon as he won he cried and yelled “Anything Is Possible”. And he’s right, anything is possible as long as you continue to work hard, believe in yourself, get better and never quit.

An example from my own experience was last Summer (2014) at my annual ANA (American Nepalese Association) Basketball tournament Championship Game. My team was down 1 with 30 Seconds to go in the 4th Quarter. We called a timeout and in our huddle I could see all my teammates looked tired and a few even had that look like we were about to lose cause we were down 1, they had momentum and everybody seemed to be rooting for them. But then, I told them keep ya head up fellas, there’s still a lot of time left. We could do this, “Anything Is Possible fellas!” And as I got out of that huddle, I kept telling myself, over and over and over again, “It’s Possible” “Anything is Possible” “It’s Possible”. The very next play I get fouled, go to the line, miss the free throw, get the rebound and hit the game winning jump shot! The whole gym went wild and we were jumping up and down out of our minds. To think just a few seconds ago, some teammates thought we might lose to then being Champions was crazy. Proof that “Anything Is Possible”.

Another great habit that I constantly use in my life is to take negative words out of your everyday vocabulary and replace them with positive words. For example, take the word “can’t” out of your Vocabulary and put the word “CAN” into your vocabulary. It’s a small change but this change will rewire your brain and force you to focus on the positive and let you know that you can do anything you want instead of stopping you from going after your dreams.

To make any dream come true you must first Dream about what it is you want, visualize yourself achieving that dream, and go out and execute to make it happen.

Anything Is Possible.

What I Learned On My Trip to South Korea

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So as I write this I am 38,000 feet in the air, flying via Korean Air, reflecting on my experience, and planning my next career and life moves. At the age of 26, I’ve accomplished a good number of things in my life. For one, I can say that I am now a Professional Basketball Player after one season in the Mongolian Sprite League, I have traveled out of the U.S. to 3 countries,  Russia, Mongolia and South Korea.  I have traveled through and explored the city of Seoul and rode on the beautiful waters of Incheon. I have gone to the Country side of Mongolia and ridden on a Mongolian horse. I met a lot of beautiful Mongolian women. I have eaten Mongolian food, got accustomed to a totally new culture, lived on my own in a country thousands of miles away from Jersey and learned key phrases in the Mongolian Language. Life could not be better, yet I still want more as I have not achieved the athletic and financial goals that I have set out for myself.

So what’s next?

Well, I have to first train with Pro Basketball Trainer Hasan Ahad (who played Pro Ball for 7 years in China)  in North Carolina to take my game to the next level so I can stand head and shoulders above my Mongolian Competition. I have to reach out to agents to close my next deal after the Super League this year. Regarding to business, I have  to get laser focused on my sharing more inspiring and impactful Basketball blog posts with you all and create an online basketball video program that will help take your game to the next level. And waking up at 5 am will give me the much needed tine and energy to accomplish this task in 2015. There are 5 more months left this year, 3 of which without in-season distraction and I have to push harder than I ever have before.  And a thought just popped into my head; Neil Patel (Founder of Quick Sprout) was right – it is best, at least for me, to write early in the morning because I right now I am fresh, energized with tremendous will power and inspired to share my story and experiences to inspire others to live out their dreams. Staying on the topic of dreams, I had a conversation with a fellow Korean Air Transit Tour Member name Michelle from Austrailia. Michelle now lives and teaches in Malaysia. And I asked her what does her friends and family think of her traveling expedition and she said they think she’s a hero living vicariously through her. And I said someday they’ll be able to travel too to which she said “no they won’t. Most can’t afford it”. But I said with an online business or some type of business they will be able to. Anything is Possible. And she says “I guess’.  So right then and there, I saw that she was a “realist pessimist” but that is why I do what I do. I want to inspire people and let them know that anything they want is possible. They just have to dream enough times, work toward that dream and before they know it they’re life’s purpose is being fulfilled right in front of their eyes.

While on the boat in South Korea, I recorded a simple video and promised myself that I would be super successful one day. It almost brought me to tears while on that boat, because here I was a kid who emigrated with his family from Kathmandu, Nepal at 19 months old and grew up in a 1 square mile town called Hoboken living out his dreams of playing Professional Basketball and traveling the world, relaxing on a beautiful boat out on the Incheon River in Incheon, South Korea. Yes, I had dreams of this moment but I did not in my wildest dreams think that I would be doing this at such a young age. I was thinking more like when I am about 40 or 50. So, as I took some long deep breaths out on that boat I was overwhelmed with emotion, gratitude, hunger, ambition, love, fascination and excitement of what is to come; as the saying goes, “To whom much is given much is expected.” So as some people say, I am and really feel like “The Chosen One”. You can trace my success back to when I was a little baby, surviving the tragedy of putting both of my hands in a burning fire in Nepal with 3rd degree burns, to surviving the burns of hot tea accidentally poured on my forehead, to beating a severe asthma attack and being placed at St. Mary’s Hospital for 1 week, to winning multiple MVP’s and being selected to All-Star teams from Age 9 and up, making it to the Regional HoopShoot foul shot contest in Red Bank, NJ, winning almost every academic award in Middle school, starting Varsity Basketball and Soccer at St. Peter’s Prep, to excelling in my leagues at Rutgers and in Philipino leagues, to starting a business, to being recruited to 2 Semi-Pro Teams, to playing Professional Basketball and to traveling to 3 countries in 2015. “To whom much is given much is expected”. But it wasn’t all me and I know that. It was God blessing me with such a loving and supportive family, amazing talents, skills and abilities to excel in athletics and life. So I have be given all the tools to become super successful. It is now up to me to build on my successes and reach my Summit and beyond to contribute to society and inspire possibility.

Also, looking at the plethora of Mongolian and Korean businesses I could not help but admire their work ethic and desire to help their families. It was inspiring to see as a rising professional athlete and struggling entrepreneur because they’ve been around for 10-20 years and are still going strong with a smile on their face. So if they can do it so can I. Watching these people work 14-16 hours a day reminded me of my parents who owned and worked at our Convenient store in Hoboken for 17 years. So I vowed to work just as hard if not harder to make my mark in the most incredible time in history with the age of instant communication, technological advancement, buyer spending at an all time high and with the great possibility of becoming a millionaire or living out your dream by age 30.

So that’s pretty much it for now. I wanted to just share with you my experiences, thoughts and improved viewpoints on what it possible. My mind and success thermometer has expanded and will never go back to it’s previous form. I am eternally grateful for everything I have been given, have achieved and will keep working on my dream and improving the world every day that I am on this Earth. Thank you for reading and I hope this post inspired you enough to go out and make your dreams come true.

The Most Powerful Lesson I Learned from My 1st Pro Basketball Season

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Keep Grinding and Never Get Complacent

Isiah Thomas, Point Guard of the Boston Celtics once asked a Billionaire how he became so successful. And the billionaire told Isiah “Stay Paranoid and never get complacent”. In fact, this is the same advice Billionaire Warren Buffet gives also. Buffet says to always work as if someone is chasing you and trying to beat your or take your position.

Angela Yi did a TED Talk and said the #1 Determinant for success is a term called “Grit”. This is the Secret to Success or (Only Thing to Guarantee Success). She’s a teacher and she noticed the overwhelming similarity amongst all her Top Students was not their IQ or knowledge but how hard they worked and disciplined to study effectively, and force themselves to get the assignment done to get good grades.

Looking out my South Korean Tour Bus window, gazing out at the beautiful mountains, green fields, and fresh rivers, I kept thinking about what got me to where I am, and the constant thought in my mind was the insane amount of hardwork, dedication, blood, sweat and tears, day in and day out I worked in the gym, hours upon hours and from that hardwork that little round ball brought me to Russia, Mongolia and Korea. So, I kept thinking to myself when I get back to Jersey it’s grind time to the max and I will work harder and smarter than I ever worked before so I can advance my game, business and life. Hardwork and dedication Is what got me to where I am. So working hard is the only way to take my dreams to the next level and to become ultra successful. Top Salesman – Grant Cardone says that you must hustle like an Immigrant. A recent study done by Harvard says that immigrants are 3 times more likely to become millionaires than the average American. And Floyd “Money” Mayweather says you must hustle and train like you’re poor. We all know Mayweather ain’t poor but if a multi-millionaire undefeated professional athlete is thinking like that well ya damn sure we should be thinking like that as well.

Stay tuned for my next post on my Trip to South Korea.

My Story

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I struggled so much in my life and journey to become a professional basketball player.

Where it all Started – at the age of 9 at my Parents Grocery Story – learning from the insane, 16 hour a day back breaking hard work that both my Mom and Dad put in everyday for 15 years to provide a better life for my 2 younger brothers and me. They are my ultimate heroes and without them I would not have been able to achieve all that I have in my life.

Then learning how to play basketball from my childhood friend, Eddie Castellanos quickly after getting introduced to my lifelong mentor, Coach and friend, Mike Mincey at the Hoboken Boys and Girls Club where I played basketball religiously for 5 hours a day, everyday from age 9 to Age 16 when I entered High School at St. Peter’s Prep. then AAU in Jersey City, New York, etc.

Shooting at night all by myself, looking in the sky asking God when will my dream of playing Professional Basketball come true? or if it will ever come true? Am I working this hard for nothing. Will all my hardwork, blood, sweat and tears I put in to the game payoff?

Then going on to High School and having a good career at St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City.

Getting recruited to Play at Montclair State University but turning it down to pursue my dreams of playing Division 1 at Rutgers University but not being chosen.

Invited into training camp in my Junior Year of College with Division 3 College team – Rutgers Newark but then getting cut feeling like my dream was over.

But then falling more in love with the game, working out on my own everyday for 8 years from freshman year of college to 2015 – my first year of Professional Basketball.

Playing any and everywhere – outdoor, indoor, dirt roads, in the snow, in the rain.

Intramurals, Philipino leagues, having my mom and cousin tape my games just dreaming, wishing, hoping, praying and grinding to get my chance to play Pro ball.

Crying myself to sleep because I had not achieved my dream of playing professional basketball. Then finally being fed up with my life and saying enough is enough. I’m going to make it as a Professional Basketball player no matter what. I’m going to make it or die trying.

Fast forward to the Summer of 2013 I skipped a crucial quarterfinal playoff game for my Annual Nepalese Association (ANA) Basketball tournament to go tryout at the Blacktop Pro Showcase at St. Francais College in Brooklyn. My teammates were pissed and so was my girlfriend at the time for leaving them to go to this Pro tryout. But I said fuck it going after my dreams is way more important than some Annual Asian Tournament.

Getting Drafted to play on 2 Semi-Pro Basketball Teams in New York – but not getting any Overseas offers.

Getting chosen to play on a Professional Basketball Tour to play in Ireland but then at the last minute being told that I needed a Visa from the Ireland Embassy to fly to Ireland. I was crushed and literally broke down on the floor crying on my kitchen floor because I had lost my chance of getting a contract to play professionally overseas.

Then fate stepping in where I met a good friend, Brandon Santiago who laid out a plan for me to make it Pro. His plan was simple: Go to Las Vegas and attend 2 Professional Camps – EuroBasket Summer League Camp and Bridgewater Academy getting selected to Top 20 All-Star Team

Getting my first Agent. Trying out for a contract to Play Professionally in Mongolia

Being told I will be playing Professionally in Mongolia and finally today playing Professional Basketball.

I’m living proof that dreams do come true. As long as you keep dreaming, believing, working hard, and never give up. The only way for you to fail is if you give up.

Here’s what my friend Michael Aquilina said on Facebook about my accomplishment of playing Pro ball:

Mike_Acquilina_Inspired_By_My_Dream_Come_True

As the late Jim Valvano said during his fight against Cancer, “Don’t Give up, don’t ever give up.”

I believe in you.

-Sonam

Ulanbaatar, Mongolia – 1st Professional Basketball Job

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What up everybody. I’m so blessed to have been given the opportunity to even play Professional Basketball. At the time of writing I am sitting at a Coffee Shop called Caffe Bene on the other side of the world in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia. I dreamed of playing Professional Basketball ever since I was a kid. To make my dream become a reality is the best feeling in the world. However, it did not come easy. I’ve struggled and failed over and over and over again for the past 3 years.

Ulanbaataar is such an amazing place to play and live. Well for starters everything here is half price, for example 10,000 Tugrik here is equivalent to $5. Thus, you take their tugrik and divide it by 2 to equate to our American dollar. So most things over here are a bit cheaper than back home in the states.

My journey began when I got signed to play on a Semi-Pro Team called The Bronx Holy Flames. Geo, the Owner of the Team was forming another team called the NY United. It was at the NY United Tryout that I met a player named Brandon Santiago. Brandon is actually a Pro Player as well. We were both trying out for the NY United Semi-Pro Basketball Team. I was just at the tryout because here was this little 5’8″ dude taking over the tryout with his crisp passing and lights out shooting. So I pulled him aside after the tryout and asked him, “what semi-pro team you playing for right now?” And he goes, “none, I’m actually working out with NBA Teams trying to get on a team. I just finished workouts with Sacramento, Orlando,  and the Knick today.” I was like wtf, are you serious? So I told him lets grab some dinner and let me get some advice.

It was at that dinner that he inspired me to go out to Las Vegas, Nevada and specifically go to 2 camps: The Euro Basket Summer League Camp and Bridgewater Academy Camp.

And 2 months after I was on a plane to Las Vegas. I did okay at the Euro Basket Camp but it was at Bridgewater where I killed and took over. I was named to the Top 20 All Star Team, interviewed for being one of the top players at the camp and most importantly it was at Bridgewater where I got my first Agent and signed with Aspire Sports Agency. Just getting my first agent was a dream come true. So a few months after the camp my boy Zach who’s also signed with Aspire tells me about a Mongolian Basketball Camp.

At first I wasn’t too excited because I thought do they even play ball in Mongolia? But then I did some research and learned that Mongolia actually had a legit Pro league called MNBA and with me being Asian I was like “man if I kill they’ll sign me and let me play their as a local since I am also part Tibetan, which is very close to Mongolia.” So, I went to the tryout at the Aviator Center in Brooklyn, NY, did my thing and met my now Agent, Aagii Altan-Ochir who offered me a pro job.

Fast forward to April 2015 I was at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. I flew from JFK to Moscow, Russia (had a 8 hour layover). Then landed in Ulanbaataar, Mongolia baby! The great about it was Aagii picked me up at the Airport right away. There was no waiting or having to take my own cab to the hotel, which is the horror story Dre Baldwin had to face when he went to Lithuania.

From the airport I was dropped off to an area of Ulanbaataar (UB) called Bagshin Deed. I was introduced to my roomate, Teng Akol, a 7 Foot Center originally from Senegal but grew up in Seattle. My apartment was huge! 2 Bedrooms, huge living room, with kitchen and dining table, big bathroom and balcony. I was like “I made it”.

And literally 2 hours later I was training Mongolian kids at a nearby gym called Orchlon. This was a part time job my agent gave me since he said it’s a great way for me to play ball, meet people and make some extra cash. After work that day I was driven to my first practice and met my teammates for my new team called Nice Mazzalai. And I killed at that practice.

Unfortunately, I was only at that big ass apartment for a week and a half. Since Teng was going back to America I had to move to my new apartment at the “Olympic Tower” where most of the Super League Pro players lived.

As the Basketball season got underway my love for the game grew deeper. This little ball has brought me to other side of the world and will bring to many more places in the near future.

In my very first game I felt a certain calm and happiness that I never felt before. It was feeling like “Damn, I finally made it.” All that hard work, blood, sweat, tears and time was all worth it. But this was just the beginning of  my dreams. So the first game I didn’t do too well. Scored 4 points, had 4 assists, 2 steals. However, the 2nd game I came out dropping 18 points, with 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds. It was right after that game that my teammates and coaches saw that I would be the go-to player on the team. And from then on I dominated nearly every game averaging 15 points a game, 7 assists, 2 steals and 4 rebounds. Loved by teammates and named a “Legionnaire” which is the term they give for one of the best players in the league who is from America.

Due to my impressive performance, I was invited back to play in the Super League this coming November. Can’t wait for September 1st when I’m back in Mongolia and practicing with my new teammates.

But before then this Summer is all about getting better through the most intense, grueling, and advanced workouts I have ever done. I will be training with Hasan Ahad in North Carolina to get me ready for the Super League which starts in November. Top NBA Players say the Summer is when the most growth occurs in your game and so these next 3 months will be the hardest and smartest 3 months I have ever trained in my life. My goal is to be the best Point guard in the league, MVP for all Local Players, Win a Championship with my team, Make the All-Star Team, and win the All Star Skills Challenge.

Will keep you updated on my latest workouts and Summer Workout.

Your Fellow Pro Player,
Sonam