Challenging Yourself

If I couldn’t handle not being good at something, then how could I consider myself a successful person? Gerald, high school athlete featured on CBS Sunday Morning

As the saying goes, “out of the mouths of babes,” this quote comes from the mouth of a high school student who was good at nearly every sport in his school….except swimming. He couldn’t even swim. So, what did he do? He tried out for the swim team and because they were so desperate for members, he was signed on. Eventually he takes them to the state tournament but the big take away is his quote and the fact he would even consider such a challenge. 

Mostly we shy away from what we’re not good at. We want to be successful, look good, and not suffer the humility of failure. Gerald’s courage, self-esteem, self-awareness are all admirable. And he didn’t just think it, he did it. He learned what it is like to be a successful person by first being a failure.

Affirmation: I like a challenge.

Coaching questions: Is there something you’re not good at that you want to try but are holding back because you might look foolish? If you challenged yourself to take this on, how might it change your life?

Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s