Steph Curry was nearly an NBA bust. The Bleacher Report said he is probably never going to be a star in the league. He nearly initially didn’t get any Division 1 College offers. Another scouting report said he had limited upside and relied too heavily on his outside shot.
Even after having one of the best NCAA Tournaments of all time he was still just the 5th guard picked in the NBA draft.
Then when he got into the NBA, he had a run of bad ankle injuries that nearly stopped his career as soon as it started.
At every turn, the status quo, the establishment said he was too small, too slow, too weak, shot too much, wouldn’t become a star. Despite a few flashes of brilliance here and there, they were all right.
Now, he is known as one of the greatest shooters of all time, All-Star, MVP, and Champion. So what happened? How did a skinny no hope kid change how the NBA is played.
Change isn’t easy. Doing things differently has many unseen challenges. Paul Graham, the co-founder of Y Combinator, created a term for this in regards to what start-up businesses go through. He called in the Trough of Sorrow.
The initial excitement of the idea starts to wane as it doesn’t work how the team thought. Finding the right situation where the idea fits the environment needs a large amount of perseverance, determination, and a little bit of luck.
What does this mean for me?
It highlights that progression isn’t a straight line, you don’t just keep getting better. There are many reasons why good ideas fail, or don’t take off like you want them to. Likewise, a new skill you are trying to learn might be very exciting at the start but then becomes more of a chore than a joy.
Jump into that trough, get comfortable with that feeling of discomfort. Keep moving forward.
Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe 