Today’s post is essentially a ‘year in review.’ I started this site just over a year ago, in the second week of January for a multitude of reasons, but mainly for myself. I realized through having conversations and meeting new people that I had been blessed with many experiences, stories, and ideas that were versatile and unique to me. I realized that I’d have fresh things to share, things that would attract people, but no way to relate them together under one umbrella.
When I look at my life, as I have said many times, I take on numerous different identities. As we all do. For me to be the best athlete, son, brother, Catholic, diabetic, whatever… there are these Super 8 concepts that transcend the borders of those roles. But, when I first started this journey, even I didn’t understand that.
When I decided to dedicate some time to creating a blog, I needed a solid handful of reasons. I knew as an NCAA athlete that I couldn’t profit on doing this, there’s no money involved, and that I’d have to find the motivation to keep producing in an already insanely busy schedule. Therefore, I have stated a bunch of different reasons for creating the Super 8 blog, but the two that are the most important are my why.
When I sat back and pondered what good this could do for the world, I became open to what it could do for me. 365 days ago, I was in a rough situation, and I was naïve about it. I didn’t realize that what I was going through wasn’t normal, but I did realize that I didn’t always feel quite right. There’s much more on that in the post, ‘What’s on Your Mind?’
Through the ins and outs and trials and tribulations of the day to day, I had lost touch with important people in my life. And, in addition to that, I lost touch with myself.
As a result of that, I had the ability to introspect, and that’s how I sold myself on this idea. If I took God, faith, prayer, family, education, sacrifice, character and discipline and wrote about them for the people who cared enough to read, then I can’t forget those concepts. Doing these posts became reminders to myself, and talking points to those that I was unintentionally losing touch with. When I hit the ‘post’ button I had the ability to remind myself who I was, and remind everyone else that I haven’t changed, I’m still grinding, and I still love you.
Initially, I didn’t care how many people clicked my links or soaked up my words. If I had one loyal reader, that’d be pretty damn cool. That creates some change for the better in the world. But, I’ve found that a lot of people need these posts, I have many loyal readers who really do hang onto my words, and as cool as that is, it doesn’t inflate my ego… ’cause oftentimes I need my words, too.
And still, to this day, I am not perfect. I don’t necessarily have a right as an almost 20 year old kid to get up on a soap box and directly relate to people three times my age. But, I have been extremely humbled and grateful to be able to do so. I cannot even begin to explain where that comes from, or why there is such a trust and respect for me. That gives me the motivation to keep churning these posts out, and to make them as sharp, creative, sensible and comforting as I can. The least I can say is thank you.
Nonetheless, manifesting this site has strengthened my why. And that draws me to my point that in order for us to be the best at anything, we first need a why. We need an internal reason to do things we love both well and consistently. When you start looking for motivation outside of yourself, you fail. Everything starts with the spark within, because when those external motivators disappear, you will have to rely on you to keep going.
Nothing has been more apparent than this in the last 365 days. The world has given all of us every reason to fold. Every reason to close a small business, every reason to quit a sport, every reason to fail in school, every reason to disconnect with co-workers, and on and on. When the days have gotten hard, and the nights have gotten long, I have been able to rely on the Super 8, and you.
I hope my messages, perspectives, and lessons have resonated with you. I have heard your praise loud and clear, and I’m excited to keep amplifying the Super 8 into others’ lives… especially as the light of normalcy gleams at the end of the tunnel.
As we head into another year of sharing life’s perspectives, I want to thank the 3,858 unique readers this past year, including those from 24 different countries around the world. I never expected such love, but I’m honored.
I appreciate your time, care, and willingness to share my posts with your friends, family, and social circles. I also appreciate your positive responses and feedback to me… here’s to another year of impacting each other.
I’ll leave you with my top 5 posts of Year 1, starting with the first ever:
https://thesuper8.blog/2020/01/18/the-super-8-2/
https://thesuper8.blog/2020/03/05/darren-waller-on-the-super-8/
https://thesuper8.blog/2020/03/26/staying-level/
https://thesuper8.blog/2020/06/01/lets-get-real/
https://thesuper8.blog/2020/11/04/god-wins/
Blessings,
-Bryce
Super 8 