As human beings, we are prone to making excuses whenever we are unable to achieve what we set out for. Yet that may just be unbecoming of human society. What do you feel separates good athletes from the best athletes? The answer is a great athlete will always have their own self-rules that they will follow every day. For example, the world all-time greatest athlete Michael Phelps. The reason why he is the greatest is all due to his dedication to his craft in swimming. He won 23 Olympic gold medals in total and went to 5 Olympics games. Before his 2008 Olympic game, he trained harder than anyone else in this world. He trained 5 years straight and didn’t miss a single day of workout, even on his birthday, party, holiday, etc. As an athlete myself, the most important rule that I follow every day as an swimmer is never ever make any excuses. There are lots and lots of rules that great athletes said before, but I think the most important one is never make any excuses. I think why a good athlete can’t become a great one is because they have a weaker mental strength. People often time will say: “Oh my leg is so sour, I need to end this workout early today; Oh, I am too tired today, I won’t go to morning practice tomorrow morning; It’s too cold outside, I don’t want to wake up this early and swim in that cold water. What if I get cold? What if... What if…” I think those mindsets are normal for normal people that don’t really want to be at the top in the end. But a great athletes’ mindset needs to be way higher compare to other normal people. Because if you want to do something, and you want it that bad, you will make sacrifices. Let me tell you a story. You know for me growing up as a kid, I made a lot of sacrifices. I go to the pool and train for 2 hours instead of hanging out with friends after school. I go lift weights in the gym instead of a party on Saturday and Sunday. I wake up early at 5 o’clock 5 times a week and swim a 2-hour practice in the water right before school starts instead of sleeping in until 8 am. But all those things I give up, it made me get to my final goal at the end. There are definitely times when I want to be lazy and want to skip a practice or two. But I used my mental strength and push through it. Swimming has taught me many things. Discipline, honesty to myself, and fairness to others especially during competitions most. importantly the mental strength to push myself through the pain and physical gains to achieve what I want. Benjamin Franklin once said, “He who is good for making excuses is seldom good for anthing else.” What he means by this is that if you have a person who constantly makes excuses they may not be someone who is reliable. Another good quote from George Washing Carver, “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses” really drives home what Benjamin Franklin stated earlier. He emphasizes the importance of being humble and true to your roots in order to succeed. So from now on forward, let’s start to not acting weak in front of the others, face the fact even if it is not what you wanted, and most importantly don’t try to come up with different kinds of excuses anymore. You can be the greatest and you will be the greatest. If you want to be a success at the end, you will make sacrifices. So make the change today. Eric T
12 Comments
Do you wear a jock? Why don’t you play softball? are just some of the many questions I get asked daily, Being a girl in a male dominant sport that doesn’t do well with change has definitely been a challenge in many ways.playing in the league i do has definitely made me a stronger person both mentally and physically i am always pushed to lift heavier, swing hard and run faster and just be able to stay at their level in general. When they say “blocking out the haters” i take that quite literally it’s something that I have had to master through my whole career. Don’t get me wrong the whole mental part of the game is not easy it is actually harder than the games itself. Oh and don’t get me started about playing a new team its the constant chirps from the dugout “ is that a girl” and the 20 new following requests after the game is just an day in the life of a girl playing in a men’s league. I’ve been with the boys on my team for so long now they consider me just another one of the boys which is good and bad i mean i can’t ask for anymore than that even if I get brought into awkward conversation i just laugh and keep going. Personally one of my favourite things is when the guys come to me and go “ you see there this girl and i don't know what to do any advice” like woah i feel like a match maker all you girls can thank me for those well thought out dates or gestures. At the end of the day I wouldn’t change the choice of playing baseball for anything it has brought me so many amazing opportunities and taken me so many cool places. Even though it’s been blood sweat and tears that i have poured into this sport and that includes many sacrificed weekends and weekdays but in the end it was all worth it.
Strategies I used to keep in my mind through my baseball career
Holy moly is it ever hard to be a teenager. Many will agree and I’d be quite surprised if they didn’t. Very few can testify to having an easy time in high school; academic wise, friendship wise and family wise as well. Teenagers each day go through mental, emotional and some physical challenges that are overwhelmingly difficult to deal with. I believe we are never given more than we can handle but through these hard experiences we learn a lot about ourselves. In high school, everyone in some way is searching for themselves, experimenting with different things, figuring out what they enjoy and what they don't, and most importantly who they want to become after leaving high school. The main difficulty is the feeling that we are not ________ enough. Not pretty enough, not popular enough, not smart enough, not fast enough, not GOOD enough.. It is so important recognize the positive things about yourself because you are enough, and you do not need to change in any way in order to be enough. Many individuals undergo this battle, and a clip from TedTalk shone light on this as well. Unfortunately there are so many factors that play a role in one's journey of discovery and often what youth lose is there sense of staying true to who they are and who they want to be. For myself I have found highschool to be one of the most challenging experiences I have been through because of this aspect. A few years ago after spending a summer away volunteering at a summer camp, I really had time to reflect on my life and learn more about myself. Coming home that summer I decided that I wanted to follow God and to start attending church and a youth group. This was a very big adjustment for my family and friends who do not share the same views as me. Entering back into my community, my school, and my friend groups, I found it exceptionally difficult to pursue the path that I wanted to follow amongst those who were close minded to my decision to become christian. This is still something I struggle with on a daily basis but I have grown in my faith through these hard moments as I have been challenged to continue staying true to myself even when it feels like I am super alone. This is only my example though and for others it may be something completely different, but I believe that we all have difficulties in high school, to stay true to our morals, our beliefs and our values. Staying true to myself hasn’t been easy as I have become distant with some of my friends, I have had conflicts with my family and I have felt quite alone at school as I am now considered different. However, staying true to what I believe in and how I want to live my life has been the most rewarding thing. I have learned more about myself, my faith and who I want to be and through it all I have been able to influence others through these experiences. A few key things to remember are:
Although my story is different than others, the tips that I have used in staying true to myself through high school, may be relatable to others who are exhibiting similar difficulties. Being a teenager in general with the everyday challenges of being yourself in your friend group, being yourself on a sports team or in a club etc. is extremely difficult, especially when facing everyday challenges. But discovering who you are and who you want to be is crucial to living a lifestyle with authenticity and originality. Do not be afraid to make mistakes but learn from them and learn more about yourself. You are you and you should embrace everything that makes you yourself. You are incredible just the way you are.
-Emily C |
Categories
|