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
Jake
12/10/2018 10:39:41 am
I can really relate to your blog, as an athlete myself, I constantly strive to do better and can connect with the sacrifices you make to improve at swimming. It takes a lot of dedication and self motivation, which from reading this blog, you have a lot of.
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matthew
12/10/2018 10:41:16 am
wow that was inspiring. Every time i hear of these people that get up at 5 in the morning to swim or go to the gym etc i just think of how much i love to seep in. I could never do that. I guess just have way to many excuses, years full...
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Christina
12/10/2018 10:41:49 am
I found your blog really motivational!! Being able to work hard and to put in the time that you do in the pool takes a lot of dedication. I really admire that you don't make any excuses and even if you don't feel like doing it, you still do it.
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marika
12/10/2018 10:42:02 am
can relate a heck of a lot to this i always found myself making excuses but at the end of the day that really separates the good athletes from the amazing and the ones that go the farthest
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Jack
12/10/2018 10:42:31 am
As an athlete myself, I can really relate to this blog post. I have had the same thoughts and excuses. Well done Eric.
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Georgia
12/10/2018 10:43:33 am
I liked reading this blog it was very inspirational! I read this blog because i used to and still sometimes do complain and make excuses about things, when it really wont benefit anyone to do that. Go you for being so self motivated and knowing what you want, then achieving your goals through hard work and sacrifice. You can definitely be, and probably are, a role model for people in and outside of this class. Nice job, Eric!
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Jacob Enns
12/10/2018 10:43:43 am
Swimming is a dedicated sport for people who strive to be the best, it’s a very demanding and physchological. It takes strength to do the excorcises however it takes will to keep up with your pace and timing.
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Kai
12/10/2018 10:44:12 am
Excuses is always around me; even inside my mind. The people who success to do something is greatness. I wondering that how can they dealt with excuses. Good blog anyway Eric!
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Janeva
12/10/2018 10:45:46 am
I honestly wish I had as much drive as you! I work until I succeed, though sometimes once I have reached that success, I tend to lay low on the persistence. One thing I want to develop is the mental strength aspect that you highlighted; I am shook quite easily and it takes me time to recover and get back on my road to success. Sometimes, failure is what stops me, because I am a perfectionist, and it is difficult to get back on track. I want to learn the skill sets of discipline that you have! Your dedication is inspiring :) Great blog and keep up the good work!
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hayley
12/10/2018 10:58:17 am
I like that you used both from your own habit and also from Michael Phelps's habits together and how you both have a no excuses rule when it comes to training. i also like that you also included that this habit made you become more disciplined as well as teach you honesty and fairness.
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Lukas
9/12/2019 11:28:20 am
Wow that was a very insightful blog post! I definitively took a lot away from this post.
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Your hard work and dedication is very impressive! Being an athlete doesn't only mean to be extremely strong at what you do physically, the mental strength of it is equally as important. I love how you really got into that, especially with making no excuses. I hope your swimming career will thrive, you put your all into it!
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