June 20 , 2011
Please send comments or subscription
requests to [email protected]
Hard Work By
John Leonard We believe hard work is its own reward.
We believe that everyone benefits from hard work. It teaches
all of us that nothing is given to us, it has to be earned. It teaches
us that life is not fair as sometimes those who work the hardest are not
rewarded the most. But without hard work, there is a reduced likelihood
of reward. Hard work “feels good”. It makes us feel
valuable, capable, and self-sufficient. One of the few things we can
control in the world is the level of our own effort. When we work harder
than we thought was possible for us, we open new doors of possibility in
our lives. We believe that children need to be TAUGHT to work
hard. Role modeling from parents, from coaches, and from teammates is
the best teacher. Young people learn when they say “I’m tired”
from sitting around all day in front of a computer, that they have to
learn that SPENDING ENERGY in hard work, BRINGS MORE energy to your body
and mind. Want to feel great? Get up and work hard. Sitting around does,
in fact, make you tired. Children need to be taught that. It is
counter-intuitive. We believe that Resiliency is THE great trait
to learn from swimming. Everyone gets knocked down in life. The
critical thing is to learn to bounce back up immediately and re-double
your efforts. When I speak to parents, they always tell me that
they attained the position they have in life by overcoming all the
obstacles that fate placed in their way. Then, they often say “I don’t
want my kids to have to go through that.” This is lunacy! You don’t want your children to
learn from the same pieces in life that made you successful? Children need hard challenges. They need to “fail”
as often as they succeed. They need to learn to quickly and effectively
bounce back up and get back to work. Parents protecting their
children in the extreme are called “Curling Parents”. (Because they
remove the obstacles from the path of the child.) IT IS SO MUCH BETTER
to prepare the child for the hard path, than try to clear the hard path
FOR the child. Each time you do something for your child that they can
do for themselves you make your child WEAK. Show your confidence
in them by allowing THEM to overcome the obstacles. Resiliency. It’s a Family Thing. Everyone in the
family has a role in swimming. The child does the work, the learning, the physical
effort. The parents remind the child of their commitments made and of
the life skills that will make them a success in life and in swimming.
The Coach coaches. The friends support and cheer and encourage. The
parent takes care of the “get the child there” logistics so critical to
a child’s success and consistency. Everyone has a role. Play YOUR
role and don’t interfere in other’s role.
|