Everyone has something they are passionate about. For me it's a sport but for some it might be a creative activity or something social. My passion is field hockey. It is a very intense teamsport with a lot of different methods to handle the ball and techniques to play toward the goal. Even though there are lots of different personalities in a team, in the end everyone has to work together and support each other. The small, hard ball makes the game, together with the stick, very fast. That makes it not only a physical sport but also challenging for your mind. I grew up always playing in the same team with the same people over the years. Since I am in Canada the sport gave me many opportunities to get to know new people and feel welcome. That is something for which you always will get the opportunity if you do a sport, especially a teamsport. It will help you everywhere in your life when you are new there. How does my sport help me in my daily life and for the future? It takes a lot of discipline to manage practice, school, friends, family and not completely lose your feeling of time. Without the passion it wouldn't be that easy to concentrate on all of that but if you really want to reach your goals, you will do everything to reach them. Sometimes it is hard to get back from practice at 10pm and then still having to do homework and having to go to school the next day with just a little sleep. But when the weekend comes and I have a game and the adrenaline kick comes shortly before it, I realize again how much I love what I do and that every single second of exhaustion is worth it. It is an amazing feeling that is impossible to describe. In every situation in my life where it's not that easy in the beginning it helps me to stay strong, to not give up. It will be worth the hard work and to fight for my goals. There are always opportunities to challenge yourself more and never stop learning, for example to have the goal to play for the national team one day. Why is the aspect that it's a teamsport improving my growth even more? Teamsport means that you do your sport together, with other people. It means fixed practice times so being on time and if you are late or miss something not only do you have disadvantages but also your teammates. That's something that also helps me in my life because I always have in my mind, not to be late. During the games and during practices you learn to communicate with your teammates, which helps a lot to communicate to people in moments of performance where you normally would just do what you are 100% comfortable with, instead of thinking about all the things you learned.If you are in a game in a specific situation keeping a cool mind and really thinking through what you want to do that's a great success. Also, if I am in a game and short before making a pass, I have to see the free space in the crowd of people and decide between possabilities very fast on which one is the best. So if a situation in my life happens where I have to pick out of many opportunities, it's sometimes easier to decide on the right one based on my way of thinking through field hockey. What are some difficulties and challenges?
I am a very ambitious person who loves challenges in any kind of way. Sometimes it was a bit hard because not everyone in my team was so ambitious than me. That's why it would probably be way easier for me to do an individual sport where I am independent of what others want. Anyways I found my way to handle it through taking responsibility. At my team in Germany I am the captain which gives me the responsibility to motivate not only myself but also the other ones which definitely made me grow as a leader. SInce last year I also started to coach little kids, as it gave me the opportunity to teach other people my passion. In the beginning it was not so easy to explain things you know nearly your whole life. Especially to someone who has never heard of it before, but with time I found my way on how to do it. But in the end all those difficulties and challenges helped me improve my resilience in many ways. Slowly I am beginning to understand the quote my grandma always told me: your body is connected to your mind and your soul and they work the best together. Even though I love doing all those things, there are a lot of people who can't stay under this pressure of performing and end up to stop doing their sport. I think that they still will take their experience with them.So if you have never done a teamsport in your life before, I highly recommend it to you. You will get a new experience and growth in your mind out of it which definitely will also make you a better leader and help you with your personal development. Paula H
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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 |
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