How to tell if you’re ahead or behind in your recruiting

All right, so today I'm talking about the topic of are you ahead or are you behind in recruiting? And how to tell where you're at and how to not get caught up in all the social media stuff, because that's the toughest thing. And so if you don't know who I am, I'm Trent Lower. I'm a former college quarterback, played at the JUCO and the NI level. And now I run your first scholarship where we help families get their first scholarship to play college football and more. So let's just dive in. So this is a thought that I was having this week is just about expectations, clarity and timing of recruiting because it's so hard to get an accurate grasp of, hey, am I on the right track? Am I behind? Am I ahead? And oftentimes we feel so behind. I'm sure if you're listening to this, one of the reasons you're listening to this is because you're like, shoot, other kids in my grade are getting D1 scholarships. Or if you're a parent, you've seen other kids in your son's grade get scholarships and you're like, how are they doing it? Why is my son not getting. He's better than them and this and everything like that. I get it because I went through it. I, I had the exact same thoughts. And so I just want to help you in this, this episode, reset those expectations, help you get more clarity around where you're at in the process. That way you have a little bit less stress and you don't have to worry about that as much. So number one, let's just talk about the fact that you can't compare yourself to what you're seeing on social media. Most of the time. What happens is you're seeing probably like 10 to 20.0001% recruits on your timeline consistently. And so you're constantly seeing this on your feed. And first off, these are non committable offers, usually in the first place. If you're currently at 27 or 28 and you're seeing kids get offered, they're not committable, those might not be there in the future. And so you can't get caught up in not committable offers. That's not going to help you, it's not going to help your recruiting, it's not going to help anyone. And so you have to just realize what reality is. And so we have this perception. I mean, I don't want to get too philosophical on this, but you have to realize that your perception is really what controls what you Think is reality. And so you can't view your perception, your show from media causes perception of like, everybody's getting offers but me. So why am I not getting offers? When in reality you got to realize being on Twitter, you're already in this top percent of people. You're being active on Twitter, you're already in another top percent of people. You're in a very small group of people that we're talking about compared to the 7 billion in the world. And so when we talk about 20 to 50 maybe kids in your grade that are getting these power Forward, Group of 5 scholarships so far early on, and you're comparing yourself to them again, you're just comparing yourself to the top 1% of the top 1% of your class. And that's hard to compare to because, hey, you've got a long way to go. Those kids might have hit puberty early. Those kids might just be at a really good high school and they started as freshmen and then boom, they might have just got some random media attention. Their dad might be a Hall of Famer, Their dad might have some strange connections. They might be in a really good area like Central Miami, DFW, Houston, LA. The list goes on for reasons why they're getting those opportunities and you're not. And sometimes it just might be they're more talented. And that's totally fine. You've got time to catch up. You've got plenty of time to catch up. And so you can't get caught up in what other people are doing in their journey because ultimately comparison is the thief of joy and all your joy of the recruiting process. You will resent football in the recruiting process because I've seen it before just because of the craziness of it all. And you can't control it. It's out of your control. So control what you can control because ultimately that this gets proven time and time again. High school doesn't really matter in the long, long grand scheme of things as far as like life, football, like, you see plenty of time and time again. This guy was unranked, made it to the NFL. This guy was a three star, made it to the NFL. This guy was whatever, made it to the NFL. And so you can't get too caught up in the rankings and what's going on because that will just cause so much distraction. It'll make you feel like, hey, I'm not, I'm not good enough, I'm not doing enough or make you frustrated the process as a whole. And that's the last thing you want to do, because I definitely have done that myself. And I can tell you that it didn't benefit anyone. It definitely did not benefit me. And so don't make that mistake. So first off, if you're behind her head, the easiest thing I can tell you is right now, anybody who's listening to this is ahead. Because most people don't get their scholarship offers, their first scholarship offer until after their senior year of high school, after their senior season. So if you're not listening to this, if you're not a. If you're not a senior and it is not post November of your senior year, then you're still. You're still ahead. If you're talking to some coaches, you're ahead. Like, that's what so many people get so confused about is like your junior talking to 10 plus D1 schools. And you're like, dang, why do I not have a scholarship offer? It's like, well, because they're recruiting a class ahead of you and you've got plenty of time, and they're not gonna. They're just not offering you yet. And so you just have to realize how much time you have left and that ultimately, yes, interest is not scholarship offers, but if you have a lot of interest, it's hard to believe that 20 schools won't turn into at least one scholarship offer, and that one scholarship offer won't turn into three or five or 10. And it happens so quickly that it's hard to believe, but it does. And so you just have to keep trusting the process. You have to know that you're doing the right things. And oftentimes you won't know. If you're like, if you're put in the effort and you're at least getting something out of that and you feel like you're going in the right direction, then you are. And so don't get too caught up in what you're seeing and comparing yourself to others. Again, you guys are all ahead of the curve if you're listening to this. And so don't, don't compare yourself to others. Like, it's, it's a scary thing to do because you're. You're putting yourself and your. Your own thoughts to the power of others, and that just never goes well. And so just be sure, continue putting an effort on and off the field, your head in the recruiting stuff, Trust me, you are. As long as you're doing the. You're putting in the time, you're putting the efforts after watching this stuff, and ultimately it'll all pan out. As long as you are putting a good product on the field and you're marketing yourself as an athlete, it'll all work out. You'll end up finding a place that is the best fit for you. So hopefully this helped kind of adjust your expectations, just get some clarity around that stuff. Hopefully you feel more ahead and you feel like you're on the right track, because again, I think most of you guys are. So hopefully this helps. If you got something from us, be sure to follow like and if you want to learn more about how I can help you personally and get daily insights to your bucks, then go check out your first scholarship com and you'll learn more there. Peace.