When I was growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, a friend of mine had a half-court basketball setup in his backyard. We spent countless afternoons, summers, and weekends there playing all kinds of games. Most people are familiar with the classic game of HORSE where you make a shot, the next person has to match it, and if they don’t, they get a letter. Miss enough shots and you spell out H-O-R-S-E and lose. It was even famously featured in a Nike commercial with Michael Jordan and Larry Bird that ended with the line, “Nothing but net.”

But the game we played was different. It was called SCHOOL.

There were markers on each side of the lane. The first spot, right next to the basket, was called kindergarten. If you made that shot, you advanced to 1st grade which was directly across on the opposite side of the lane. Make that one, and you’d move to 2nd grade, which was back across the lane but one hash mark higher. Then came 3rd grade, then 4th grade to the left of the foul line. 5th grade was farther left, 6th grade was a foul shot, 7th grade was halfway between the foul line and the top of the key, and 8th grade was at the top of the key.

But here’s what made the game really interesting:

Except for the kindergarten shot, you could always “chance.”

If you took the chance and made the shot, you advanced to the next grade. But if you missed, even from 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, you went all the way back to the beginning - “kindergarten”. Most of my friends never took the chance. It was too risky for them. They didn’t want to lose all their progress and too afraid to start over.

Me? I always chanced. Even at 8th grade. It didn’t matter if I went back to the beginning, because I always knew I could come back.

The Point of All This?

· You can always come back.

· You can lose everything and still come back.

· You can go bankrupt and still come back.

· You can make it to the 6th interview, come in second, and still come back.

· You can end up homeless, but still come back

· You can get divorced, lose everything, and still come back.

But you can’t come back if you never take the chance in the first place.

And in today’s job market where people are being rejected constantly, ghosted regularly, dealing with incompetence, worrying about finances, and wondering if they’ll ever catch a break, you have to keep moving forward. Keep taking the chances. Even if it means going back to the beginning.

Because you can always come back.

So in the words of that famous Nike commercial: "Nothing But Net".