You either ARE good – you GET good – or you give up!

Now, admittedly there are many shades of grey – but it has been said that those who start out on the road to learning a new skill, fall into three categories: They either ARE good, they GET good or the GIVE UP! That is:

1. They have natural ability and ARE just good to go, from the very outset.
2. They start out with little or no natural ability, but through work and perseverance, they become skilled.
3. They don’t like the pace (or lack thereof) of their progress, and they give up.

From my perspective, as both a coach and a martial artist who had to work hard for everything I have gained, I place little or no value on natural ability. In fact, I have seen countless ‘naturals’ come and go – very few remain for the long haul – they quite often move onto the next challenge, before they have gone the distance with the first. As far as those who fall into the ‘Give Up’ category, I am saddened by the fact that such people don’t seem to realise that anything worth having is worth fighting for in the first place. But again, I can’t do much with anyone who ‘gives up’ before I can ‘train them up’. My focus and interest lies with the middle group – people with little or no natural ability, but who are willing to ‘stay the course’ and become skilled over time. I have seen countless ‘ordinary’ people achieve extraordinary things through perseverance and consistent training. Most people are ‘highly trainable’ and the key is CONSISTENCY. Well, consistently SMART training, I should say. I have also seen countless people who are (sadly) training hard – but training the wrong way, or in a way that in so inefficient, that they take eight or ten years to achieve what a smart approach would have allowed them to achieve in only two or three years. In fact, nowadays, a fair amount of my work is spent ‘undoing’ the effects of incorrect and inefficient training. Taking a smart approach to training and doing a little every day – will eventually make almost anyone – an expert.
Train well – train smart - train often.
JBW