My Marble Jar......

The older I get, the more I enjoy Sunday morning. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Sunday morning are most enjoyable.

A long time ago I was shuffling toward my car with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Sunday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

Many years ago I was having a bagel and coffee and next to me was an older man, and I love to listen to the old timers! He had a distinct voice, you know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was taking to a guy my age about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital," he continued; "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of "a thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Sundays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Sundays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container in the shack next to my work bench.

Every Sunday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There's nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
Now let me tell you one last thing before I go. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Sunday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.

It was nice to talk to you and to meet you Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to talk to you again. This 75 year old man, wishes you a good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop it seemed. I guess he gave me a lot to think about. I had planned to work that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few buddies.

Instead, I went home and woke my kids up with a kiss. "C'mon kids, I'm taking you all to breakfast."

"What's up?" They asked..

"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Sunday together. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

GODSPEED little ones....

Greg DiRenzo, M.S.
Performance Coach, Trainer, Motivator
"S.M.A.R.T.fit - THE NEXT BIG THING!
"Small Hinges Swing Big Doors"

The Proof is in the PROGRAM!!!!

Nothing else really too much to say except....

A Guaranteed Way of Getting You 86,400!

Investment strategy....

Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400 and it carries over no balance from day to day, it allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.

What would you do?  Draw out every cent, of course!  Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.

Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the records of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!

The clock is running.   Make the most of today.   

Greg DiRenzo, M.S.

Performance Coach, Trainer, Motivator

"S.M.A.R.T.fit" - THE NEXT BIG THING!

"Small Hinges Swing Big Doors"

The Magic of Myelin

The Magic of Myelin

This has been a terrific piece for me personally to put together and I hope it will be for anyone wanting to better understand “talent.” In the world of sports psychology we talk a lot about and instruct athletes to work on "deliberate practice." What exactly is “deliberate practice” and why is it important?  The simple answer is – IT HELPS THE ATHLETE PRODUCE MYELIN.  Myelin is the fatty insulation around nerve fibers that makes electrical nerve signals more efficient.

So what is the connection between “deliberate practice” and Myelin?

It is now very well known that superior athletes and superior leaders of great skill in any field have spent many years carefully sharpening and perfecting their technique (this includes savants, who, by nature of their disability, are able to focus obsessively and persistently on math or music or art, effectively tuning out distractions). Why does high-level skill take so much time and steady effort to develop? It turns out that this slow, patient persistence is exactly what myelin needs to become a thicker and more efficient insulator. You can't rush that process. In neurology, myelin is being seen as an epiphany. This is a new dimension that now helps us understand a ton about how the brain works, especially about how we gain skills, all skills.

Let’s take a look at the current epicenters of great sports training; the Spartak tennis center in Russia, golfers in South Korea, baseball payers in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. What is the common thread?  Deliberate practice.  This is an obsessive focus on technique. Each of these places are incubators for deliberate practice. Harnessing the competitive drive comes later (at Spartak, they don't allow students to compete in tournaments for at least three years).

“He’s gifted”  “What a natural” “That guy was born to do that” Those are all things people say when they see extraordinary feats and phenomenal skills.  But are some people born that way?  Are some people born with more efficient myelin-boosters than others? Maybe so. Maybe, on top of the years and years of persistent development of technique, Anna Kournikova and Tiger Woods also got lucky in the genetic lottery. But what I as well as many others in this field have learned following the last few years of research, genetic differences seem less and less relevant. 

Here is why:1. No one has actually found these much-vaunted genetic differences relating to skill and talent.  Maybe they're connected to intelligence, maybe even persistence….?  All we know is that we haven't actually found them yet.
2. Regardless of what differences we're born with, there is a lot of evidence that suggests: most people do not come remotely close to achieving their genetic potential
high-level achievement is simply impossible without hard work and persistence
3. We also know from definitive research that no one benefits from a mindset that relies on their "natural" abilities. Students encouraged to rely on their natural gifts stagnate, as do poor-performing students told that they are limited by some disability. In opposition, students of every caliber perform better when they are encouraged to equate hard work with results.

Athletes and age of peak performanceThe path of an athlete’s career follows a parabolic arc: a fairly steep rise as the body matures and skills are acquired, a peak, and then a slower, flatter decline as ability fades. But what causes this peak and decline? Obviously it has to do with physical attributes like speed and power, but what about the deep, underlying aspects of performance?

The consistency of this rise-peak-decline pattern is striking, even across very different sports. For nearly every major sport, the age of peak performance is in the range of 22-30, and some interesting trends emerge when you look at sport type in relation to an athlete’s peak age. The age at which performance tends to peak across sports seems to mirror the continuum from purely explosive, athletic sports to slower, more skill-based sports, with explosive sports peaking earlier. Further, even within sports that combine different abilities, explosive abilities (like base stealing in baseball) tend to peak earlier than more cognitive, skill-based abilities (like drawing walks in baseball).

• For baseball, a number of studies, using different methods, have pegged peak age between 27-29.
• For Tennis, peak age has been pegged between the early 20′s and 25.
• For basketball, peak age has been found to be at 27 for all positions, with different positions showing different patterns of decline.
• For Track and Field, peak sprinting age has been found to be in the lower-mid twenties, with endurance events having a little older peak ages.
• For golf, athletes have broader peaks–between 25-35, with slower declines.
• For football, running backs and receivers peak around 27, with running backs showing sharper fall-offs than receivers. Quarterbacks have a broader peak between 25-35. 

But why do athletes decline? One place where we are now looking for an explanation is in myelin integrity. As noted above, myelin is a fatty sheath that insulates the axon of the neuron, the long portion of the neuron that conducts the electrical signal when a neuron “fires”. This sheath acts like an electrical insulator, and allows the axon to conduct a signal much faster than an unmyelinated axon. You’ve all heard of “gray matter,” but myelin is what we call “white matter” when we’re talking about the brain as opposed to “gray matter”, which is mostly composed of neuronal cell bodies. Neuroplastic changes in white matter have been observed in musicians and other categories of experts–it’s as if repetition and practice cause the laying down of additional layers of this myelinated insulation–so it isn’t too great of a leap to anticipate that highly trained athletes might exhibit differences in myelination and white matter when compared to the general population.  

Given that myelin is associated both with expertise and with the ultra-fast conduction of nerve signals, it seems logical to explore whether the degeneration of myelin might be associated with the decline that we see in athletes’ performance. Myelin integrity also exhibits a parabolic trajectory with age, and the breakdown of myelin is associated with slower nerve conduction and cognitive and physical decline. But while this seems like a plausible explanation, studies have shown that myelin integrity actually peaks around age 40. In a study conducted at UC San Diego, a range of subjects were tested on a very simple but common neurological test, finger-tapping speed. Maximal finger tapping speed requires high-frequency action potential bursts and is associated with myelin integrity. The study results found that myelin integrity, as measured by brain imaging techniques, and finger-tapping speed closely mirror each other, and peaked around age 39. The study’s concluded that the results suggest that in this very healthy male sample, maximum motor speed requiring high-frequency burst may depend on brain myelin integrity.

Interestingly though, even in the most skill-based sport, golf, performance decline begins before 39, the age at which studies suggest that myelin integrity peaks. Decline in every sport happens while myelin integrity, and thus the quality of the signals sent through the brain and body, should still be improving. So, again, why the decline?  It is potentially productive to examine when certain physical attributes begin to decline, and whether those might explain why athletes lose competitiveness with age. Decline does not seem to be related to a loss of physical strength. Studies have found that muscle atrophy due to aging doesn’t begin until around age 50, so that seems like a dead end.  Another potential cause might be an accumulation of injuries.

Certainly in high-impact sports like football, or sports with razor-thin margins that make injuries relatively more debilitating like track and field, we tend to see younger ages of peak performance. It may just be that the wear and tear on the body over the years erodes an athlete’s ability. This idea is bolstered by research on how football running backs who carry the ball more than 370 times in a season tend to show a predictable pattern of decline in the ensuing seasons after that huge workload.

But the metric that seems most related to decline is pure explosiveness. We see the most explosive sports, like track and field sprinting, peaking the earliest. Even within sports, as in football, positions that rely more on explosiveness (running backs) peak earlier than those that rely more on other, more experienced-based skills (quarterbacks). The neurological metric that seems to fall more in line with peak athletic age, and with this explosive speed, is reaction time. Reaction time peaks in the 20′s and then begins to fall off. Specifically, it is complex reaction time that declines fastest. So why do reaction time and explosiveness peak when they do?  In reality, athletic decline is probably due to a number of interacting causes, both physical and, potentially, neural. The exact mechanism behind why athletes peak when they do, despite the predictability and inevitability of the process, is not 100% understood, but it’s getting there.

So how do you become a superior athlete?  Deliberate Practice and Myelin!  Practice smart, practice hard, practice long!

Greg DiRenzo, M.S.
Performance Coach, Trainer
"S.M.A.R.T.fit" - THE NEXT BIG THING!
"Small Hinges Swing Big Doors"

What good is one apple?

Do you think the apple or apple seed is worth more?

Rodney and Gregory were sitting in the break room talking about business strategies for their small training company. Rodney, ever the worrier, was expressing his frustrations over how "quick success" seemed to be eluding them. Rodney said to Gregory, "I can't see any evidence of this hard work. It seems like every thing that we have done has been to no avail."

Gregory, a much more seasoned businessperson, sat listening while peeling a big shinny red apple. Gregory understood Rodney's frustration. Early in his business career, Gregory had similar feelings and often gave up on his goals prematurely because he did not believe in himself. Fortunately, Gregory gained understanding of the need for belief and patience.

Holding up the apple he was peeling, Gregory said to Rodney, "See this apple, Rodney. When I cut it in half, we can count the number of seeds in it." Gregory cut the apple in half and noted the number of seeds in the core of the apple. He held up one seed for Rodney to see. "However," Gregory continued, "we cannot count the number of apples in one seed." Rodney looked at Gregory with confusion as he struggled to understand how Gregory's example related to his concerns.

Gregory continued, "We cannot know how many “trees” will grow and bear fruit from our efforts thus far. Now is the time to assume that our seed will bear fruit, to see the orchard filled with trees loaded with apples, which have been fertilized with belief and confidence, and watered with enthusiasm. We must be careful not to allow the weeds of negativity and doubt strangle the new plants as they struggle to grow into fruit-bearing trees."

***********************************

Don't be stuck looking at things like Rodney, just fire him now and look at the seeds!!!

Often, it is very difficult for us to see beyond what is present, or absent, for a period of time after we have made a decision and taken action. The silence between the time that we launch our goal and when we begin to see the results of our efforts can be deafening. It is during this time that we may lose momentum and enthusiasm for our goals.

Our ability to see thousands of apples in one apple seed may separate the truly successful people from those who experience only a minimal amount of success.

You must maintain a vision of what you want, need or desire, and be confident in your abilities to achieve success even when you cannot yet see the results of your efforts.

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Program!

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Program!

Someone last week said to me, "Man I wish I could be you for a day as a 'trainer', you have a great job; you get to scream and yell and yell and scream at people all day long!"  I ever so politely replied, "Are you freaking nuts, you are out of your mind?  You really don't know what I do, do you? The fact of the matter is, yes I do have a great job AND I do not yell and scream at people all day long.  Who enjoys getting yelled at and who enjoys yelling at people?" Who in their right mind wants to hand you a lot of money and then tell you, "now that I have given you money, please treat me like crap by screaming, yelling and calling me names." Well let me stop for a second, maybe someone looking to fulfill a freaky fetish, but that's another topic...

This is such a misconception in this industry... not only by clients and prospective clients but in general as you can see. Maybe they get this from TV and big box gyms and from the ever popular tanned up Affliction wearing Johnny Frohawk? (some of you that know me know who I mean)  This I believe is also something that newbie "trainers" see as part of the job, maybe they get it from Spin Instructors...?  Do me a favor and please shoot me if you ever see me going into a spin class!  That's what I want to do as much as run on a treadmill at the gym!  Wow, that's as exciting and effective for fat loss as sticking my hand in a meat grinder, and not to mention BORING AS HELL!

Johnny Frohawk

This yelling and screaming is so not true of the "fitness professional."

The value of what we provide as "fitness professionals" is in the program design and the programming for the client, it generally is not entirely in the actual training session.  Although the actual session is much better with a "fitness professional" than by yourself, a good program design in my opinion is far superior than Johnny Frohawk standing over you screaming at you to "push harder" or to "do one more rep."  Motivation is vitally important, so don't get me wrong here, my point is that there is equal if not greater value in the program design.  Being in a one on one session with a client for every single set and every single rep motivating and instructing and coaching is very valuable, and yes, many people need someone to be with them for every training session.  Maybe because they know the value of having you there or maybe because they know that they are lazy or need assistance or just simply want to be pushed - correctly.

My point here is that you are being paid to help your client, so spend a little time and figure out how to help them, it all starts with a good program.  So Speak Softly and Carry a Good Program, otherwise your clients will find someone who does.  Value what you do, and your clients will value what you do for them. Or you can just pay someone to "hang out" like they have been doing with you.


Greg DiRenzo, M.S.
"S.M.A.R.T.fit" - THE NEXT BIG THING!
"Small Hinges Swing Big Doors"

Working Hard... Too Hard?

WHY DO YOU WORK SO HARD.......?

IF SOME IS GOOD, IS MORE BETTER?

         

What about this....

If two aspirin get rid of your headache in 30 minutes, wouldn't it be better to take ten of them so you could get rid of the headache in six minutes? 

Of course not!

IF SOME IS GOOD, MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER.

Sometimes LESS is MORE.

Once there was a small logging company in the Pacific Northwest.

One day they hired a former pro football player.

This huge 300-pounder was not only incredibly strong but also in great cardiovascular shape. On his first day he came to work his first day with a "I'm going to show you guys who I am" attitude.

He went and got an ax and quickly starting chopping.  Every once in a while, he noticed all of the other lumberjacks taking breaks, walking up and down the road.  Not him, he kept going.  Non stop, he chopped and chopped and chopped.

At the end of the day, all the workers met in the boss' office to get their pay which was based on the number of trees they chopped down. The new guy went first and and proudly told the boss that he chopped down twenty-one trees.

There were chuckles from the other men.  Embarrassed, the big guy pointed to an older man and defiantly asked him how many trees he chopped down?

"Sixty-four.  He asked another... "Fifty-six." Then they all chimed in... "Forty-four." "Fifty-one." "Sixty-eight." "Seventy."

Totally humbled, he asked, "I was working much harder than you guys. How could all of you chop down so many trees when you all were taking so many breaks?"

The oldest of the men said, "Young fella, you're working too hard. When you thought we were taking breaks, we were walking to the shed to sharpen our axes. You got to take time to sharpen your ax."

WORK SMART, NOT HARD and KEEP YOUR AX SHARP!

Greg DiRenzo, M.S.

Performance Coach, Trainer, Motivator

"S.M.A.R.T.fit Solutions" - THE NEXT BIG THING!

"Small Hinges Swing Big Doors"

Life-Sports-Business in 1 sentence!!

Life-Sports-Business in 1 sentence!

The one sentence that sums up life.... "There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

Arthritis?

A drunken man who smelled like beer sat down on a subway next to a priest.  The man's tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket.   He opened his newspaper and began reading.  After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked,  'Say Father, what causes arthritis?'  The priest replies, 'My Son, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a bath.'  The drunk muttered in response, 'Well, I'll be  damned, 'Then returned to his paper.  The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. 'I'm very sorry.  I didn't mean to come on so strong.   How long have you had arthritis?'  The drunk answered, 'I don't have it, Father.  I was just reading here that the Pope does.'  

MORAL: Make sure you understand the question before offering the answer. 

Turkey?

A turkey was chatting with a bull. 'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got theenergy.' 'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.' The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree..

 

Moral of the story:

Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Eagle?

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. 

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'

The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.' So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. 

All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:

To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Greg DiRenzo, M.S.

Performance Coach, Trainer, Motivator

"S.M.A.R.T.fit Solutions" - THE NEXT BIG THING!

"Small Hinges Swing Big Doors"

Gastric Sleeve Surgery vs Eating Normal

I was just involved in a conversation about Gastric Sleeve Surgery.  For those that don't know what it is see below.... But in short, it simply (but surgically) limits the amount of food you can eat.
Well well, that is amazing, who would have thought that if you eat less you loose weight!!!! Incredible and revolutionary!  IF YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT STOP EATING LIKE AN ELEPHANT!!!!!

Gastric Sleeve SurgeryGastric sleeve surgery (sleeve gastrectomy) is one of the newer forms of bariatric surgery but has quickly been gaining popularity over the recent years. Also known as vertical sleeve gastrectomy, vertical gastroplasty or sleeve gastroplasty, this procedure is another option for those looking to help with their morbid obesity through gastric bypass surgery. The gastric sleeve is a restrictive procedure meaning that it achieves weight loss results by restricting the amount of food that your body is physically able to take in. There is no malabsorption involved with this procedure but can be followed up with a malabsorptive procedure afterwards if the patient wishes.

Can You Solve This Riddle?

I am your constant companion. 

I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden. 

I will push you onward or drag you downward. 

I am completely at your command. 

Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. 

I am easily managed--you must merely be firm with me. 

Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. 

I am the servant of all great people and of all failures. 

Those who are great, I have made great. 

Those who are failure, I have made failures. 

I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus with all the intelligenc of a person. 

You may run me for profit or run me for ruin--it makes no difference to me. 

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.  

Be easy with me and I will destroy you. 

Who am I? 

HOW ABOUT A LITTLE HINT:

 "_____ is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it." Horace Mann 

I am HABIT.

Where do YOU get your Inspiration from?

Where do YOU get your Inspiration from?

There are two words that have always intrigued me, one is Fascination and the other is Frustration.  Are they opposites or are they synonyms? Well I guess that's how you use them!

Fascination is just one little single step above interest, it can inspire you to learn, or to try harder and to become better all while giving you the H.S.E. (Holly Sh.. Effect) from what you've just encountered. You can learn more from being fascinated by something that you encounter in life than you can from being frustrated by it.  I wonder how many millions of eggs were sold after Rocky?  How many kids started running after Usain Bolt won gold? How many girls started playing soccer after the US Women won Gold in 2008? A lot of people get frustrated tho, they see something they want or want to do, then they try it looking for immediate gratification, get frustrated and quit.  Remember, in my previous post on "talent" I write about the dedication it took to get to the point that it takes to give someone the H.S.E.!

In the last decade or so I have developed a fascination with "successful" people, in life, in sports and in general.  First I think I need to define what I believe "success" is.  I believe success is truly believing that you have done everything within your power to achieve the most out of yourself, no matter what the task.

I’m fascinated with so many things and people, like Apple, Michael Jordan, John Wooden, Bill Gates, Ted Williams, Muhammad Ali, the 1980 Men's Olympic hockey team, and many many others.  What fascinates me is "how are/were they sooooo much better than everyone else?  And I think I figured it out. I think it's because they want to be better, not only today but tomorrow and forever! They have this burning desire to be the best they can be AND they don't lose that fire.  In sports you hear coaches say, "how bad do you want it?" well these people obviously wanted it real bad, but I believe the difference is that an additional question they asked themselves was "how long do I want it bad for?" Anyone can "want it" for a short period of time, anyone can "want it" when things are going good, but it takes a different type of person to "want it" everyday for months, years and even decades!

What happens to you when your doing all you can and you run into a road block, or something sets you back, a brick wall? In my career I've seen it over and over again with my athletes and clients, some get frustrated and some get fascinated.  When there is push back, when it becomes difficult, when there is an insurmountable resistance, successful people get excited, they get excited by the difficulty, they get fascinated by difficulty. This fascination drives them even more to do better, it gives them a challenge that they NEED to conquer.

Steve Jobs speech at Stanford is one for the record books, as well as Randy Pausch and his presentation "The Last Lecture.". Both discuss brick walls and what the walls purpose is, so go back and Google them if you haven't seen them yet, and if you have, go and take another look again and again and again. That just triggered a memory.... Again, again, again, again......on and on and on. For those of you who saw "MIRACLE" you know what I mean.

That fascination to me is the most inspiring thing I can think of, most people get defeated by the difficulty, successful people get inspired!  The harder it becomes, the more excited they become, that taller the brick wall, the harder you have to climb to get over it!  Imagine, just imagine, if in life you are going to be presented with problems; just like sports life is a continuous set of problem solving tasks.  I guess you have a couple of choices when you are presented with problems, are you going to get frustrated or are you going to get fascinated?  Most people get turned off and frustrated. I don't think Apple throws up their hands when Blackberry launches their new device.  I can bet that their engineers got highly excited and fascinated to an extreme degree, and that's why they just may be one of the best companies in the world!  What about when Usain Bolt lost in his Olympic trials? Did he just accept that or did he re-focus and work harder. He worked harder and crushed the field, again! Because when he gets excited, his body gets excited and he seems that he gets more energy, he gets to do amazing things! 

There is a secret tho.... Yes a secret, how did they learn the secret to get fascinated and who told them?  I think it just came to them actually.  But is it really a secret? You already know all of their secrets, Apples' secret, Ted Williams secret and yes even Rocky's secret.  You can too, get excited, get focused and become fascinated to an extreme degree!  

So, in closing what can you do? It's simple, do more, do what you are doing better, do it smarter and use fascination / frustration to your advantage.

To help keep yourself fascinated set gold, short and long term goals.  Create  a list of more goals and dreams to accomplish, write down as many as you can. Read books, listen to seminars, study "successful" people, mimick them, discover a new skill to learn, re-learn old skills, investment time to make yourself better, and meet new people.  And one last thing, stay in shape because there are a lot more brick walls out there for you to climb!

The "Wow He/She is Talented" Perception

When most of us admire athletes for being "a natural" or say, "that kid was put on this earth to do that" aren't we simply saying that their value is being brilliantly gifted rather than valuing what they have accomplished through desire, dedication, hard work, and effort?  I'm not sure about you, but if we praise for "talent" I believe it sends the message that being naturally talented and exceptionally gifted are what it takes to be successful?  Today, our society is so focused on classifying people as being inherently brilliant, talented, beautiful, and/or physically superior that we have allowed ourselves to believe that the most valued assets; success, fortune and fame are a given because "they are just gifted" rather than the fact that hard work, desire and dedication are the attributes that get truly successful people to the top.

Isn't a better message to send to young athletes this, "Continually do your best, push limits and industriously make every effort to achieve more through effort"?  Ask any world-class athlete if it was his "talent gene" or specific and targeted effort that got him or her to where they are today. The age old saying, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard" speaks volumes, no matter what age, skill or sport.  If you want long-term success you must practice, work hard and smart, and have a laser like determination.

When I speak to coaches and parents they always want to know how to praise their kids correctly in order to help them continue to grow and do their best.  The first question I always ask to the parent or coach is, "Why are you giving or do you want to give praise?"  The coach and parent first and foremost need to examine their reason for praise/feedback.  If it is just for giving some praise or "feedback" as I like to call it, is broad, well then there is no real value.  Feedback needs to be useful, specific and instructive if you want to help them.  The best way to start with praise and constructive feedback is to get their perspective on what they are doing or have done, you can do this by asking them questions on the "why" they are doing something or what they have done.  What we fail to realize is that at one point, we were that person-that kid you are now talking to.  If you are a person who gives feedback, follow 5 simple rules; be specific, be sincere, listen to the person you are speaking with, understand their perspective and look them in the eyes. Numerous studies have taught us that children and adults are starved for feedback, not an outstanding amount of praise.  They want it to be honest, specific, and helpful. It is about providing information that will help.  Feedback that only states that they need to "do more" or "work harder" isn't feedback, it's a scolding and no one like to be scolded or told they are not doing things correctly.  Maybe the child believes he or she is doing things correctly or doing enough, that's where the feedback comes into play, here is where you now can ask questions and give proper feedback/praise, but remember to be specific, be sincere, listen to them, understand their perspective and look them in the eyes   I've talked to hundreds of kids who truly believe they are doing all they can, but with proper feedback most of the time we can help redirect them into doing things more effectively, efficiently and smarter.

So Greg, "Are you saying that anyone can be anything he or she wants to be if he or she just works at it more and tries hard enough? Yes and No, what I am specifically saying that anyone can be better at what he or she wants if they are willing to put in the time and effort it takes to do so.  Nothing is hard, let me repeat that, nothing is hard, it just takes time.  However, you are correct in saying that there are certain physical and mental aspects that can play into this such as specific limiting physical attributes that can put people at a disadvantage.  The chance of a 5'2" man playing in the NBA aren't too high, but he can be the best 5'2" basketball player in the world, the chance of a 7' Jockey winning the Kentucky Derby may also be slim, and the chance of someone without limbs on his lower extremities running in the Olympics is slim right... oh wait, scratch that, it was done - successfully in 2012. Personally I am very cautious about assigning limits on anyone because of physical limitations.  A lot of my clients have heard me say that the most powerful thing you can have is DESIRE, desire trumps all, desire gets things done, it beats talent, it beats genetics, it beats the newest vitamin and training tool you can buy off that infomercial, desire wins, always.  Desire, specific "deep practice," and effort wins, it creates habit and habit creates Myelin, but creating Myelin is another topic for the future.  I do think in some people that there is a bit of neurological awareness that gives them an advantage, and yes some do seem to have a certain knack or taste for the sport or the tasks they chase.  They seem to have a "flow" or that sense of being "a natural," to do what is hard for others.  However, that early success will not and does not survive without desire, specific "deep practice," and effort.


So in the end am I saying that we have to stop admiring "talent," No, No way!  What I am saying is that praising "talent" isn't always what we are we doing, we need to remember that athletes, and specifically kids here, surely have different aptitudes, skills, competencies, and the financial means to hire great coaches, but except for a minute portion of our population who has severe impairments, we can all get better at things that matter to us.  It just takes a commitment to effort.  So don't ever believe that someone can be better than you just because he or she is "a natural." 



Greg DiRenzo, M.S.
"Small Hinges Swing Big Doors"

I figured out your problem coach!

I figured out your problem coach!  I know the problem with some HS coaches today... 

Why am I better teaching kids than you coach?  It's simple, they don't really know their athletes.  I know they know their names and a little about them, but they really don't know them.  They never get to know the ""WHY"!  "Why are you playing kid?" or the "Why does that motivate you kid?" or "Why is red your favorite color kid?"  Personally I regularly work with about 55 or so clients and I know every single one! True, that number is not as high as you coach, but it's close, but my interactions range range from the age of 11 all the way up to  71!  I know everything about them, every hot button, every calm down switch, every like and every dislike. Why do they work harder for me than they do for you?  Why are their attitudes different - better when they are with me than with you?  Because they know and see the difference when people are sincere!  That's why I'm better than you!  These kids/athletes want to feel important and understood, and they want to understand the "why,"  but how can they if you don't.  When people understand the "why" they get better, do you understand? At that point, and only that point you will get them to do the "what" you ask and need from them. Shouldn't the coach know what the kids perception of reality and actions are?  I think so, maybe you should be a "coach" instead of a dictator there chief!  Listen and learn from them, that is how to get these athletes and anyone to do extraordinary things for you and  be the best they can be, for themselves, for you and for the team!  Wake up coach; it's not about you, it's about helping and "coaching" the kid, it's not about you.  It's their team, not your team. It's about molding them into productive human beings, it's about molding them into contributors to society!  Your job as a coach reaches so much farther than 100 yards, it reaches decades and generations!  HS athletes in general want to be part of something, they want to be challenged - not degraded or neglected, they want to be inspired, they want to contribute and proud of what they accomplish. Maybe, just maybe you will get it, but then it may be too late, actually it probably is.  Maybe go back and watch a few sports movies or talk to elite athletes and ask them about the impact a "coach" had on them.  Everyone needs a coach and a mentor..... and you know what's strange about that, they always don't have to be older than you, it can be a kid!  Spoken from experience here-just sayin.  So take a little...ok maybe A LOT of advice from someone who knows nothing, put your ego aside and learn from the kids, they will and can coach you on many many things!