We all have to do things we don’t like doing. From classes at school we have to do, to cooking or cleaning, or driving. There’s lots of things in all our lives we don’t like.
Some of the things we don’t like are a “have to do”, and some are on our “ought to do” list. Some might even be on our “like to do” list, such as bungee jumping, or skiing, on a bucket list, or similar wish list we may have.
It’s how we deal with these things we don’t like doing that gets us moving forward though, isn’t it?
Doing things we don’t like – case study
My eldest son loves athletics, and is quite good at it too. As he’s a good all rounder, he competes as a Combined Events athlete, just like Jess Ennis-Hill, and Daley Thompson, who are names you may have heard of.
Last year, in the two different competition levels, England Athletics, and English Schools Athletics, he had to do all ten events which make up the Decathlon. This year, he’s in a new age group, and does all 10 in one national event, and 8 in the other.
He didn’t enjoy pole vault from the start, but he had to do it, to start getting practice in. He learnt some of the basic skills, and as he has to train for 10 events, he only trained every other week for pole vault. He did his event in the summer, actually coming 2nd overall, which was an amazing achievement. He then decided, “no more pole vault”.
Well, it is only 1 in 10 events. However, when you’re competing in combined events athletics, you get points for every event. Yes, you’re running against other competitors, but you’re trying to do your best in every event for the points it will give you. The person with the highest points overall at the end of the day, (or two days), is declared the winner. So, in theory, you could do 9 out of 10 events and score zero for one of them. That’s not great though, and not something his coach was going to entertain.
As a 14 year old, we left him to it really. His coach was brilliant, and didn’t linger on the negative stuff, just focusing training on all other 9 events. He didn’t need pole vault for another 6 months, so why sweat over something you don’t need to do?
During that time, she found him a different coach, with a totally different style, and no1 enjoyed his time with him straight away. After his second place last summer, he started to really believe he could go to the Olympics one day. But, to be a decathlete at the Olympics, he has to do pole vault. 9 out of 10 just isn’t good enough.
So, whilst we’re only half way through the winter training period, today was a “eureka” moment for him. His coach clapped and cheered as he put into practice all the tips he’d been teaching him. No1 came away from his training session, saying, “I’ve cracked it!”. He truly believes he has, and I believe he’s now got the confidence to compete well in all 10 out of 10 events this year.
I’m always proud of my children, but they teach me so much. He really, really didn’t like pole vault, and at one stage was even thinking about giving up athletics! He’s taken a breather; he’s had good support around him, not pushing, encouraging and congratulating the positives. With gentle encouragement, and a change of scenery, (coach), he’s made great strides forward.
I believe it’s because he has his eyes set on the end goal. He doesn’t want to be 9/10 good enough, he wants to do his best in everything, even the things he doesn’t like doing. That way, he knows he’ll have given it his best shot at achieving his dream.
Small things make a difference in all our lives. Whether it’s opening your post the day you get it, or ironing your clothes the week they’re washed, these small things could make a massive difference in our lives.
What is your 1/10 thing you don’t like that’s holding you back?