Friday, September 7, 2012
On becoming a Champion
Practice and hours of repetition...
As I was taught by my coach “doing things you love to do and are good at is not hard work. But doing what you do not like and what you are NOT good at is where the real work begins “.Without that there will be no progress and no mastery ...
It started quite simply in doing school figures on the ice (which we had to do on either leg and in either direction...) Every body has a good and a bad side ( we called it the chocolate and the lemon leg ) So I had to do 2 :1 or preferably 3 :1 or 4:1.
It takes a lot of discipline to do 4 times more of what you cannot do versus what you already can. It is human nature, but overcoming that sets the champion apart from the rest.
It is very difficult today to keep students onto one thing long enough so they truly solve and master it.
My coach had a great way . When I had a lesson he took on ONE thing each day and he said :”when you solve it you can go home. If you get done in an hour or 8 hours, but you cannot leave until it is solved....”
Solving meant that it was the only way I would do it ,it had became part of me.
I tried that philosophy in my own teaching but only few students had the patients and dedication to do this. But I can report ,that the ones that did ended up on the top of the podium. They also understood that the only practice that counted was great, concentrated practice or it accomplished the opposite by ingraining bad habits.this is true in any walk of life not just sports.
It takes about 21 days of relentless practice to undue a bad habit and 6 months for it to manifest itself as part of the way you do things.
Under pressure you usually revert back to 6 months ago , so the repetition of relentless practice is essential in a life of a champion.
In todays world were we get rewarded just for showing up it is more and more difficult to get mastery. It used to be that you only got credit for achievement . As the they say “We do it the old fashion way we earn it “...
“The older I get the more I watch what people DO and listen less to what they SAY. Unless your talk is followed by action it is useless...
I always loved the saying “ God helps the one who helps himself.” I am so scared that we feel we have all these entitlements and we are owed everything. For me that would be stepping out of my comfort range to become comfortable to have others take care of me.
As they say : “ Give a man a fish he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish he eats for a life time.”
Getting back to be engaged in life and participate and reach for goals is where the real excitement of life is. I always said reach for the stars and you will at least reach the moon.
Your talent is God’s gift to you what you do with it is your gift back to God.!!!
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