I'm tired of being good. I don't mean good in the context of behavior (we all know I waved bye to that quite some time ago), I mean it in terms of ranking or performance. The reason is simple: I want to be the best.
I swam competitively for almost 15 years. My parents were commited and made sure I was at swim practice every day (sometimes two times a day). When I was 12, I was named the 'Midwestern Swimmer of the Year' by USA Swimming. That year I remember finishing 1st in my final event, which crowned me points leader at the Midwestern Short Course Championships. I looked up at my parents in the stands...They were proud, and so was I. To be honest, I think that is the last memory I have of truly feeling worthwhile. About one year later I started 8th grade and for some reason decided I wanted to take a break from swimming. This wasn't a complete withdrawl, but I chose to be on an All-Star basketball team with some friends of mine which took up a good amount of time. When I started 9th grade I was not even in the top 10 for most swimming events in the state of Nebraska, let alone in the Midwest.
It's not that I didn't experience success, it just wasn't at the level I was used to. I still managed to win several conference championships, and qualified for state...but I began to make all kinds of excuses for why I wasn't the best anymore. My favorite was (and probably still is) that the other kids grew and I didn't. Of course it wasn't the fact that I didn't work hard anymore, or that my commitment was not there.
This leads me to where I am at now. I think I am a good father, but I could be a great one. I am an OK graphic designer, but I should be the best. I think at some point in time I figured it wasn't cool to try, or that hard work shows you aren't really talented. I mean, if you are truly talented then you wouldn't need practice and hard work right? Wrong...Man did I figure wrong.
So I've made a new commitment to achieve greatness. For myself, my family, and because its what I do.
I swam competitively for almost 15 years. My parents were commited and made sure I was at swim practice every day (sometimes two times a day). When I was 12, I was named the 'Midwestern Swimmer of the Year' by USA Swimming. That year I remember finishing 1st in my final event, which crowned me points leader at the Midwestern Short Course Championships. I looked up at my parents in the stands...They were proud, and so was I. To be honest, I think that is the last memory I have of truly feeling worthwhile. About one year later I started 8th grade and for some reason decided I wanted to take a break from swimming. This wasn't a complete withdrawl, but I chose to be on an All-Star basketball team with some friends of mine which took up a good amount of time. When I started 9th grade I was not even in the top 10 for most swimming events in the state of Nebraska, let alone in the Midwest.
It's not that I didn't experience success, it just wasn't at the level I was used to. I still managed to win several conference championships, and qualified for state...but I began to make all kinds of excuses for why I wasn't the best anymore. My favorite was (and probably still is) that the other kids grew and I didn't. Of course it wasn't the fact that I didn't work hard anymore, or that my commitment was not there.
This leads me to where I am at now. I think I am a good father, but I could be a great one. I am an OK graphic designer, but I should be the best. I think at some point in time I figured it wasn't cool to try, or that hard work shows you aren't really talented. I mean, if you are truly talented then you wouldn't need practice and hard work right? Wrong...Man did I figure wrong.
So I've made a new commitment to achieve greatness. For myself, my family, and because its what I do.
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