Last night, Oregon’s Marcus Mariota won the Heisman Trophy.
That means, a panel of 800+ college football experts from around the country voted he was the best player in the 2014-2015 season.
It’s an extraordinary accomplishment, but what’s most surprising about it is how many schools offered Mariota a scholarship to play football.
There are 120+ division 1 football programs.
Given that he was named the best played in all of college football this year, how many scholarships do you think he received?
12 colleges? That would be 10%.
6? That would be 5%.
3? Surely 2.5% of the schools in the country saw his potential.
The number of schools that offered him a scholarship is one.
Oregon is the only school to offer him a scholarship. Part of the reason is that he lives in Hawaii and despite the number of players that island has produced it still remains largely overlooked in recruiting circles.
You might never play college football.
You might never be a quarterback.
You might never win the Heisman.
But you will be overlooked as you chase your dream.
People are going to ignore the work you are doing.
You will tell 119 people you’re working on something awesome and only one will respond.
That’s what happened to Marcus and it’s what happens to everyone chasing a dream at some point.
When it does, remember this:
The world’s ability to recognize your dream is not a reflection of whether you should chase it.
The world’s ability to understand your dream is not a reflection of whether you should chase it.
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The world’s ability to support your dream is not a reflection of whether you should chase it.
Throw the passes when no one is watching. Write the pages no one sees. Work through the business plans people don’t believe in yet. Hustle long before the spotlight finds you.
You don’t need the whole world on your side to create something that changes the world.
p.s. If you want support for your dream, if you want to be part of an online community the likes of which you’ve never seen, join the 10-Day Do Over Challenge.