Every year around the end of lacrosse season, I find myself thinking about endings, beginnings, and the dreams people carry into the next chapter of their lives.
I think about graduates stepping into uncertainty. Athletes finishing one season and wondering what comes next. People starting over after disappointment, failure, heartbreak, or setbacks. The truth is, most of us are always somewhere in that story.
So whether you’re graduating, rebuilding, chasing a dream, or simply trying to figure out your next move, here are 11 lessons I’ve learned along the way that I hope encourage you on your journey.
Where You Are Now Is Not Where You’ll Always Be
At 22, I thought my life was over. I failed out of college, believed my lacrosse career was finished, and moved to Virginia Beach feeling completely lost.
What I couldn’t see at the time was that every failure was preparing me for something greater.
Your current chapter is not your final chapter. Difficult seasons can shape you without defining you.
Purpose Is Rarely a Straight Line
The journey toward purpose is filled with obstacles, delays, victories, setbacks, and unexpected detours.
Your job is not to control every outcome. Your job is to stay faithful, optimistic, and willing to keep moving forward even when the path doesn’t make sense yet.
Small Habits Shape Your Future
Looking back, my life didn’t change because of one massive breakthrough. It changed because of daily habits.
What I read. What I focused on. How I started my mornings. Who I surrounded myself with.
Small habits become powerful over time. The seeds you plant every day eventually become the life you live.
Don’t Rush the Process
Growth takes time.
There is a process every seed must go through before it becomes what it was created to be, and people are no different. Many times we want success immediately, but we are not yet prepared for what we’re asking for.
The process develops your character, discipline, patience, and strength so you are ready when the opportunity finally arrives.
Every Job Can Prepare You for Your Purpose
In between colleges, I moved to Virginia Beach with big dreams and very little direction. I worked delivering pizzas for Domino’s, simply trying to survive and figure things out.
Delivering pizzas taught me about people. Being on lacrosse teams taught me leadership. Failing out of college taught me humility. Coaching lacrosse taught me service.
Even the jobs that feel temporary or insignificant can develop skills your future purpose will require.
Failure Is Education, Not Identity
I’ve had business proposals rejected. Businesses fail. Investments go wrong. Public coaching disappointments that felt crushing in the moment.
But failure is not who you are.
If you let it, failure refines you. What looks like rejection is often redirection. Some of the hardest losses in life become the experiences that shape you most deeply.
Quit for the Right Reasons
Don’t quit simply because something is difficult.
Quit when you know in your heart you are no longer growing, contributing, or aligned with where you’re supposed to be. There’s a difference between avoiding discomfort and recognizing it’s time for a new assignment.
Staying Positive Doesn’t Mean Ignoring Reality
There were moments in my life when I felt exhausted, discouraged, and overwhelmed.
Being positive doesn’t mean pretending everything is perfect. It means refusing to give up despite your circumstances. It means believing there is still a path forward even when life feels uncertain.
Your mindset shapes how you move through adversity.
You Were Created for a Reason
I believe every person has gifts, experiences, and a story that can help others.
You are not here by accident. There is something meaningful you are capable of contributing that nobody else can offer in the exact same way.
Part of life’s greatest work is discovering that purpose and having the courage to share it.
Plant Good Seeds Every Day
Encouragement. Gratitude. Service. Faith. Consistency. Kindness.
These are seeds.
Most seeds seem small and insignificant in the beginning, but eventually they produce a harvest. The habits, thoughts, and actions you repeat daily are shaping your future whether you realize it or not.
Plant good seeds consistently, especially during seasons when you cannot yet see results.
The Best Is Yet to Come
I truly believe this.
Not because life is always easy, but because growth never stops for people willing to keep learning, serving, and showing up.
Maybe you’re entering a difficult chapter right now. Maybe you’re standing at the beginning of something new filled with uncertainty and hope.
Either way, keep growing. Keep believing. Keep planting.
There is more ahead for your life — more purpose, more impact, more growth, and more joy.
If you believe your best days are still ahead of you, they usually are.