We recently connected with David Solano and have shared our conversation below.
Hi David, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I’m not sure where I get my resilience from, I’m not even sure I am even resilient I just don’t like losing, I don’t like failing. I know many people say they hate losing, but I also don’t sulk after a loss or failure. I use it as a learning moment. Why did I lose? What went wrong? Where can I be better? If these three questions make me resilient than I guess I am a resilient person. I do believe those three questions should guide everybody’s practice, everybody’s daily routine. I also use the power of Yet, to get me through tough obstacles in life. I can tell my brain I’m just not there, but then that statement shuts my brain from trying to achieve the goal. If I end that same statement with yet, as I am just not there yet, it allows my brain to say ok let’s keep going. Then those three questions are the next part of my process. Why did I lose or fail? What went wrong? Where can I be better? I reflect and answer these questions internally. That puts me in a better mindset with goals on what I need to do to improve.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
First of all I’m a father of two beautiful girls, a 4th grade teacher and JR high basketball coach. On the side of all of that I run Solano’s No Limit Hoops. I believe sports should be free. All around my community people charge the kids to join their basketball teams. Many of these programs are run by people who don’t really know how to build kids up. They all just take the best kids around. Well, that’s not coaching. True coaching is building up athletes to excel in the sport you are coaching them in. It bothers me because only a few kids in my neighborhood can pay these high prices to play, plus what about the kids who just aren’t great yet, where do they go. to play. As a world we all hear people saying the youth should be more involved in different activities but then we don’t have any activities that are free for them to join. That is why I created my open gym. We have kids coming from different neighborhoods and different schools to compete to be our so called Neighborhood Champs for the night. The specialness of our gym is the community that we’re building among these young athletes. The nightly fist bumps, the thank you’s and hugs we get when they’ve missed a week or two. It truly is priceless.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think the biggest area of knowledge that helped me get to where I am at today is the power of Yet. It was a word I hated growing up, but it taught me patience over time. It helped me to focus on my work habits and how to look at difficult obstacles in a positive way. The power of yet, allowed me to really focus on my goals. It helped me see the bigger picture in every moment of my life. When facing a loss,I’d always say to myself “I’m just not there yet,” and it helped me to focus on what I needed to get there. and on what skills I needed to have to attain victory. This mindset is huge. We are not always where we want to be in life, but if your brain believes you’re stuck, then you’re stuck, but if your mindset is I’m just not where I want to be yet, Then your brain understands that there’s more work to be done.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
I’d have to say my parents. They were my biggest influences in my life. They were there with me at every corner of my life, at every obstacle, at every successful moment. It was the way they parented me that allowed me to grow into who I am today.. My mom was this great caring person with a huge heart and very sentimental, my dad has the same huge heart as she did, but he added that extra toughness that I needed when I came to every obstacle. My mom taught me to stay level headed when in tough situations, but if I struggled my dad gave me the strength to overpower every obstacle. They were my Superman and Wonder Woman in one couple. They taught me how to love family, they taught me the importance of hard work, and how to respect others even if they didn’t deserve my respect. They also taught me the power of yet. They taught me to dream big and that anything is possible if you put that work in, but how nothing is possible if you don’t put in tat work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://solanosnolimithoops.wixsite.com/mysite
- Instagram: @solanos_no_limit_hoops
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Solanos-No-Limit-Hoops-277159559498823
- Youtube: @davidsolano6446
