When I taught medical trainees (interns and residents), I heard one say the best piece of information he absorbed. "If you learn five useful things a day, pretty soon you know a lot."
Some will translate to sport, others won't.
1. Hard work is a skill. You don't have to be the most athletic, biggest, or smartest to succeed if you commit to consistent work, unrequired work. "Champions do more."
2. "Always do your best." The fourth agreement of "The Four Agreements" helps us know when to speak or remain silent. Our best effort won't always be great or our best performance. But giving our best leaves no regrets. In "Toughness" remember how embarrassed Jay Bilas was when he did a poor job changing out the contact paper on his sister's vanity. His father came home late and redid the job, saying nothing.
3. "A man's gotta eat," said Patriots' cornerback Ty Law about his contract dispute. Learn to eat better, cook better. It is said that a chef's hat pleats (toque) corresponded to the number of ways to prepare eggs. Michelin 3-star chef Thomas Keller starts every day with two hard-boiled eggs, cooked exactly four minutes and topped with a drop of olive oil and finishing salt.
4. Toughness is a skill. Toughness isn't just physical toughness. Play harder for longer. Author Dan Pink says, "do five more." Read five more pages, study five more minutes, do five more sprints, or five more reps.
5. Share better. Sharing means being a better teammate. Share credit. Jonas Salk earned fame for helping develop the polio vaccine which helped eradicate polio. But he never won a Nobel Prize and wasn't elected to the National Academy of Science because he was a credit hog. He didn't give credit to coworkers or researchers who preceded him. "One colleague told a reporter, “At the beginning, I saw him as a father figure. And at the end, an evil father figure.”
Share credit freely with teammates and coaches.
Summary:
- Hard work is a skill.
- Always do your best.
- Learn to cook better, eat better.
- Toughness is a skill.
- Share better. Be an ambitious giver.