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I think if you put a timeframe on things, you can start rushing things and getting away from the goals, so I try to take it day by day and make sure I keep improving.
I think positionally I've improved. One vs. one I feel more comfortable. I knew that was going to come - obviously that's the kind of thing that comes with experience.
I've always been fast, it's God-given talent. I just try and use that to my advantage, but I'm learning more and more positionally so I don't have to rely on my pace so much.
For me, I can't eat healthy 100 percent of the year. There's obviously those little times where you have to eat something that's not great for you, but you just need comfort food.
If I had grown earlier, maybe I would have stuck with football. Maybe. But I was just too small. I was quick, I could outrun people, but if anyone ever got a hand on me, I was done.
In England, especially, mentally if you're not strong it can eat you up. There's the media, all the negativity surrounding footballers. If you're not mentally strong, it can eat you.
You can see it with social media and things like that, back in the day it was harder to convince people that the police are wrong, which sounds crazy, but that's how it was back then.
When you face any adversity in life those are the kind of lessons you can take and remember. Those are the things that are going to help me not just in football but in life, which is priceless.
As a young black American you become desensitised to it, it's just like 'oh, another guy, another kid died today.' That's so, so sad cos we are talking about human life, the most sacred thing we have.
I try not to snack, but my family, we're all big snackers. So I try to keep healthy snacks around, like Nutri-Grain bars, pistachios, that sort of thing. But you're always going to cheat a little bit.
A lot of people ask me what has been the biggest change with me being in England and a lot of people expect me to say something related to football, but mostly it's just growing up and becoming a man.
At fullback you have a little bit more defensive responsibility. You have to help out with your center backs a little bit more. As a wing back, you can be a little bit more aggressive with getting forward.
When I was younger if I was in someone else's shoes, if you saw a professional athlete you'd want to go up and introduce yourself and ask a couple questions, so I definitely know where they're coming from.
I won't eat past when I'm full. I think that's the problem some people have, they like a dish so much that they'll eat until it's completely gone and feel sick after. Me, if I feel full, ready, comfortable, I'll stop.
It's a league that you really have to get used to. If you're coming from another one, it's a tough league. Getting the experience playing in a Premier League team and getting hopefully consistent games will be huge for me.
The Premier League is one of the top leagues in the world and I'm a guy that likes to challenge myself, so just to be able to practice against those types of players and play against them every weekend is a dream come true.
When I made the decision to go to Europe, a lot of people questioned it. The first six months I was there even I was questioning it, but I think I learned a lot more about myself in that six months than I have my whole life.
I think the fact people still don't realise why people are taking a knee and saying 'Black Lives Matter,' people are being so close-minded to the fact that no one is disrespecting the flag, nobody is saying all lives don't matter.
Billy Jones, positionally, is unbelievable. He's not the fastest guy but he makes up for it by being positionally sound, so I really tried to focus and absorb where he would be in certain situations and just tried to add that in my game.
Before, sometimes if the ball was played over my head I wouldn't know where I was but now I feel a lot more comfortable. Sometimes I would be going forward when it really wasn't the right time to go too, but now I'm picking my moments better.
Obviously you have to take it the right way, keep your head down, be humble. But I think if you're in an environment where you're challenging yourself, you're only going to improve. So that's honestly what I tried to do when I went to Europe.
I knew there was no money in track and field unless you were unbelievable. So I stopped it when I was 13. I just really wanted to focus on soccer and with soccer training and high school, it would have been too much if I did track and field as well.
Obviously the chance to work with Rafa, there's not really a better situation I could be in. He's great. He takes his time with you. One-on-ones, he'll stay out after training for another hour if you need it. He's been one of the best managers I've had.
Life in Newcastle has been a lot more similar to life in Seattle, which has been great. The city is relaxed but, just like Seattle, Newcastle's passion for their team is second to none. You get recognized walking down the street or when you're around town.
When you're the younger guy, you're kind of only looking after yourself. Obviously you have to be a bit selfish in terms of what you're doing. But when you're the older guy you have to look out for the younger guys as well. If they're making mistakes, they need help, then you help them.
I couldn't really tell if it was a different childhood because I was used to it, it was kind of normal to me. The only time I remember it felt a bit odd was when I went to other people's houses and they were calling people 'dad.' I wouldn't get that. But my uncle, who also lived with me, was a father figure.
Seattle was good for me. I was very comfortable there - not comfortable in terms of it was too easy, but I was at home, I was with my family and friends. It was a great life. I was home. But I think, for me, when I get too comfortable with the lifestyle and everything, I feel that my performances, my focus can go down.
Klinsmann should be remembered as a great coach; I don't think a lot of people see it, but as players, we really appreciate what he did for America soccer. He opened American soccer up. He gave it a lot more variety of players. You see German-Americans and Mexican-Americans, and you see the guys that were born in America.
Every manager has different opinions and all you can do as a player is try to fight and get your spot back, or at least earn your manager's trust back to try and get your spot back. There's no use sulking about it, you just get on with it and try to raise your game to get back to the level you need to be when you were starting.