Talent will only get you so far

Growing up in my VERY early years, I wasn't the biggest, fastest or strongest. In fact, when I was in fourth grade I remember being embarrassed during a Presidential Physical Fitness Exam. They would sit us in a group, call us up individually to perform pull ups for boys and bent arm hang for girls. Well, being a little "large" for my age I only could manage 2 pull ups on my best day. I have to admit, I regretted fitness testing day.

There I was in my "Rocky Balboa" gym shorts trying to grunt and pull my way over that forsaken bar...embarrassing. Meanwhile, the kids who weighed all but 45 pounds were ripping them off like crazy. That walk up to the pull up bar felt like it was a mile if it was five feet.

Well, that was it. I was not going to have to re-live that embarrassment year after year. That day I expressed my pain to my parents and they got me a pull up bar (the one with the springs that goes in the door frame).

Every morning for the next several months I would get up and try to do as many pull ups as my body could muster. Every time I walked up to the bar, I relived that moment in gym class. Eventually I could do 4, than 7, then 8. I remember breaking 10 was the milestone (the same mile stone when you put your first set of 45 pound plates on the bar.)

It was at that moment, I got it. and after 5th grade, things were never the same.

What I got was the secret. The "secret" is consistent work over time. In the beginning talent makes things easier, but eventually you have to put some work in. That's why a lot of natural athletes never fully mature. By the time I was in 7th grade I could do 22 plus pull ups.

If a child is good at something early, he or she will stands out and as parents we see success and we encourage it, but there has to come a point where you should hold your child back, encourage other interests, and continue to challenge them by operating out of their comfort zone. This will help them develop a good work skills and manage expectations.

By the time they are in 8th to 10th grade, they'll know what they have to do. And there won't be burn out or any of the other issues that we see a lot of.

My father always said, talent will only get you so far, it's the work that matters. At the end of the day, we're teaching our kids how to develop good work ethics, success is just a by product of that.

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damian ross
coaching