[quote]on edge wrote:
[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
Hard work allows you to reach your talent level, it will not trump it.
A retard can work extremely hard, 16 hours per day and most likely will never even mop a floor correctly.
[/quote]
Dude, that is so rude. If you’re going to insult groups of people on here make sure it’s blind people or little old ladies or some other group that’s not actually on this site.[/quote]
A dwarf can work hours on end, day after day but will never dunk.
Wait, sorry ID.
I read about this concept a few years ago and have been trying to instill hard work ethic in my children ever since. I would say I have failed miserably. My youngest son who is four years old is the hardest damn worker I have ever seen. Due to this he’s been riding his bike for over a year when none of the other 4-6 year olds in the neighborhood are off training wheels yet. He goes off jumps and everything. He’s run a mile in under ten minutes. In the pool he’s half drowning but doesn’t want me to touch him because he wants to do it himself. I wish I could say my praise of his hard work had an impact but I know it’s just the way he is.
My oldest son, on the other-hand who is ten, is the exact opposite. Despite my efforts to encourage hard work, as soon as he gets a little winded, breaks into a sweat or is just a little bit tired, its time to quit and I just can’t figure out how to instill a little perseverance into him. It kills me because the kid has a heart of gold and I think he deserves the advantages in life that hard work will bring. He does work hard on building projects but thats it.
If anyone’s got ideas on encouraging hard work besides just praising it, I’m all ears.
[quote]on edge wrote:
I read about this concept a few years ago and have been trying to instill hard work ethic in my children ever since. I would say I have failed miserably. My youngest son who is four years old is the hardest damn worker I have ever seen. Due to this he’s been riding his bike for over a year when none of the other 4-6 year olds in the neighborhood are off training wheels yet. He goes off jumps and everything. He’s run a mile in under ten minutes. In the pool he’s half drowning but doesn’t want me to touch him because he wants to do it himself. I wish I could say my praise of his hard work had an impact but I know it’s just the way he is.
My oldest son, on the other-hand who is ten, is the exact opposite. Despite my efforts to encourage hard work, as soon as he gets a little winded, breaks into a sweat or is just a little bit tired, its time to quit and I just can’t figure out how to instill a little perseverance into him. It kills me because the kid has a heart of gold and I think he deserves the advantages in life that hard work will bring. He does work hard on building projects but thats it.
If anyone’s got ideas on encouraging hard work besides just praising it, I’m all ears.[/quote]
Will probably be unpopular but try assigning negative consequences to poor behavior as life does. Praise is only half of the proverbial coin.
[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
[quote]on edge wrote:
[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
Hard work allows you to reach your talent level, it will not trump it.
A retard can work extremely hard, 16 hours per day and most likely will never even mop a floor correctly.
[/quote]
Dude, that is so rude. If you’re going to insult groups of people on here make sure it’s blind people or little old ladies or some other group that’s not actually on this site.[/quote]
A dwarf can work hours on end, day after day but will never dunk.
Wait, sorry ID.[/quote]
Spud Webb?
[quote]on edge wrote:
I read about this concept a few years ago and have been trying to instill hard work ethic in my children ever since. I would say I have failed miserably. My youngest son who is four years old is the hardest damn worker I have ever seen. Due to this he’s been riding his bike for over a year when none of the other 4-6 year olds in the neighborhood are off training wheels yet. He goes off jumps and everything. He’s run a mile in under ten minutes. In the pool he’s half drowning but doesn’t want me to touch him because he wants to do it himself. I wish I could say my praise of his hard work had an impact but I know it’s just the way he is.
My oldest son, on the other-hand who is ten, is the exact opposite. Despite my efforts to encourage hard work, as soon as he gets a little winded, breaks into a sweat or is just a little bit tired, its time to quit and I just can’t figure out how to instill a little perseverance into him. It kills me because the kid has a heart of gold and I think he deserves the advantages in life that hard work will bring. He does work hard on building projects but thats it.
If anyone’s got ideas on encouraging hard work besides just praising it, I’m all ears.[/quote]
I sometimes wonder how the hell I will teach my kids to persevere. When I think about what did it for me, the following 3 things come to mind:
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When I was about 8 I watched the movie “Pistol: The Birth of Legend”. Great inspirational movie about Pistol Pete. I spent hours honing all my skills trying to be great at everything (not just Basketball) after that movie.
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I did really difficult things where the reward is very obvious and easy to qualify. For example, working through out High School allowed me to buy my car and scrape through College loan-free. Another example is that I started working out after being tired of being only 125 lbs at 5ft9. After 3 months I was getting lots of compliments and after 6 months, lots of vaginas.
-
My parents are badasses. My grandfather owned a factory in Vietnam and was nearly executed when he refused to give allegiance to the communist government. My mom as a little girl helped smuggle machinery out so that when the factory was forcibly seized, there was nothing inside. She escaped on a boat that had a hole in it and they had to bail out the water until they barely made it to China where she got sponsorship to the US and then went to school and became a successful small business owner.
My dad tried to escape from Vietnam but was betrayed and was captured and put in an internment camp. When he got sick and the prison became flooded up to his neck from monsoons, he was abandoned and left to die. Instead he got himself free and then successfully escaped to China where he too got sponsorship to the US and then went to school and became an engineer. So basically, I just remind myself of what my parents were going through when they were my age to motivate myself.
[quote]on edge wrote:
I read about this concept a few years ago and have been trying to instill hard work ethic in my children ever since. I would say I have failed miserably. My youngest son who is four years old is the hardest damn worker I have ever seen. Due to this he’s been riding his bike for over a year when none of the other 4-6 year olds in the neighborhood are off training wheels yet. He goes off jumps and everything. He’s run a mile in under ten minutes. In the pool he’s half drowning but doesn’t want me to touch him because he wants to do it himself. I wish I could say my praise of his hard work had an impact but I know it’s just the way he is.
My oldest son, on the other-hand who is ten, is the exact opposite. Despite my efforts to encourage hard work, as soon as he gets a little winded, breaks into a sweat or is just a little bit tired, its time to quit and I just can’t figure out how to instill a little perseverance into him. It kills me because the kid has a heart of gold and I think he deserves the advantages in life that hard work will bring. He does work hard on building projects but thats it.
If anyone’s got ideas on encouraging hard work besides just praising it, I’m all ears.[/quote]
If you live near a deep-watered, fast-moving river, buy a burlap sack and have some fucking balls.
Just kidding (not really). I suppose it depends on just how much he avoids hard work. Many kids, and adolescents and even people well into their 20’s for that matter, simply resist whatever their parents tell them, no matter what it is. I was this way when I was younger. If my dad said the sky was blue I would argue that it was red, just to be different.
I think a good approach would be to subtly let him know that he can’t be rebellious or go against the grain from a position of ignorance. A rebel without a cause is really just a rebel too ignorant to come up with a worthy cause. I suppose this is totally immaterial if he really is just predisposed to being a pussy and it has nothing to do with wanting to be different. I think at the age of ten it’s probably still too early to think this could be a life-long issue though.
Perhaps the best way to approach this is to simply let him be without trying to push him too hard. If he has a heart of gold and he works hard at projects, there’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe he just has different interests than what you want him to pursue. Does he work hard at school? Is he intelligent? If he’s intelligent and works hard at school and he keeps this up, chances are he’s on the right track, even if it means he keeps avoiding strenuous physical activity. Sports and a good work ethic in terms of physical labor aren’t everything. If he’s a total dumbass, then he’d better pick up a good physical work ethic, but if not it’s not the end of the world.
Doesn’t apply to artists or musicians. No amount of hard work can make you a virtuoso. You have to be born with talent. Spoken from experience.
[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
Doesn’t apply to artists or musicians. No amount of hard work can make you a virtuoso. You have to be born with talent. Spoken from experience.[/quote]
Have to agree with this. Although hard work can help you maximize your potential.
I personally have no musical/artistic talent and although I tried when I was younger, I never progressed at all.
My wife’s family on the other hand all have musical talent and hard work just ends up dictating how quickly they progress.
[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
Doesn’t apply to artists or musicians. No amount of hard work can make you a virtuoso. You have to be born with talent. Spoken from experience.[/quote]
Or physical talent like Football
Tim Tebow (hard work) vs Cam Newton (Talent and hard work)
[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
Doesn’t apply to artists or musicians. No amount of hard work can make you a virtuoso. You have to be born with talent. Spoken from experience.[/quote]
Same could be said for any other activity. Hard work will only take one closer to their potential.
[quote]on edge wrote:
I read about this concept a few years ago and have been trying to instill hard work ethic in my children ever since. I would say I have failed miserably. My youngest son who is four years old is the hardest damn worker I have ever seen. Due to this he’s been riding his bike for over a year when none of the other 4-6 year olds in the neighborhood are off training wheels yet. He goes off jumps and everything. He’s run a mile in under ten minutes. In the pool he’s half drowning but doesn’t want me to touch him because he wants to do it himself. I wish I could say my praise of his hard work had an impact but I know it’s just the way he is.
My oldest son, on the other-hand who is ten, is the exact opposite. Despite my efforts to encourage hard work, as soon as he gets a little winded, breaks into a sweat or is just a little bit tired, its time to quit and I just can’t figure out how to instill a little perseverance into him. It kills me because the kid has a heart of gold and I think he deserves the advantages in life that hard work will bring. He does work hard on building projects but thats it.
If anyone’s got ideas on encouraging hard work besides just praising it, I’m all ears.[/quote]
Maybe he just isn’t interested in physical exertion, which is fine. I’ve never been a parent, but I would say that best way to encourage hard work (other than by example) is simply never to do anything for your kid that he could or should do for himself. Put him into a position where if he doesn’t work, nothing happens. The rest is up to him.
conspiracy can also trump talent
Ahhh psychology … trolling kids to this very day
work hard to conspire against talent
your children can eat that
Everyone’s naturally good at something. Most will never know what it is.