Today’s post is a simple truth. Nothing can defeat unbelievable talent like a unwillingness to work. It’s a week after Nationals. Time to grab the barbell again. Look at the silver medal and wish it were gold. Duck my head under that squat bar and go to work. December is coming faster than I want to believe or realize. Oftentimes, for some athletes, a little success can create complacency. The best athletes taste success and it creates an unquenchable desire for more. That silver medal, though I worked hard for it, stares at me and reminds me it’s not gold.
Below is the beginning part of one of Will Smith’s famous speeches. What always gets me fired up is the last line of the quote.
“I have a great time with my life and I wanna share it. I love living, I think that’s infectious, it’s something that you can’t fake.
Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, god-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste – you know it’s something that truly exists in all of us. It’s very simple, this is what I believe and I’m willing to die for it. Period. It’s that simple. And that’s all I need to know, so from there you do what you need to do. I think what happens is we make this situation more complex than it has to be (because we’re looking for complexity).
We didn’t grow up with the sense that where we were was where we were gonna be. You know we grew up with the sense that where we were almost didn’t matter, because we were becoming something greater.
The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams and who wanna do things. Talent you have naturally, skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft. I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented, where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work-ethic.”
For the full transcript click here
Developing Power & Strength through the use of the Olympic Lifts.
