Hard work in sports? It is tough for most young athletes to understand the benefits of hard work.
In the next video, in the series of interviews with Raven Magwood, she shares her secrets to getting herself to put in the hard work to be successful in sports and in life.
You definitely have to work on perseverance. I tell parents and student athletes this all the time, “Do not try to make your life easy. Put yourself in situations where you are forced to grow and you are forced to learn something about yourself. “
We do not realize how strong we are until we are in hot water like tea bags. Try to make yourself grow and put yourself in situations that force you to not give up.
Don’t handicap your kids by making their lives easy. Definitely, it is a trait you have to work on.
There have been multiple times in my life where I have had periods of time when I have said, “Oh my gosh! Can I get through this? Will I be able to?“
It really started when I was a gymnast practicing four hours every day, when I was only ten years old and a Level 10 gymnast.
I had a knee injury that caused me pain day in and day out. It was so painful that I would ask, “Why am I working so hard?”
I realized I had goals set. I wanted to become a national gymnast champion. I knew things I wanted to do in the sport and because of that I kept myself going.
I did not give up. I took care of myself, but I said, “If this is what I really want, then there are certain things that I have to do to not give up.”
I definitely did that in gymnastics, even with school during those late nights when you do not feel like studying. I said I wanted to graduate Valedictorian.
Because I set that goal, I worked hard all the time with my school work. I did graduate Valedictorian when I was 16.
There are things currently in my life where I say, “If I had given up, I would not be the person I am today.”
If you missed the first Part of this series ,click here.
To go to the next part of this series click here.
Raven Magwood is the author of The 7 Practices of Exceptional Student Athletes. As a motivational speaker, Raven started the Student Athlete Pledge in an effort to encourage student athletes to be well –rounded individuals who excel academically, athletically, and professionally.
For more information, visit www.RavenMagwood.com or www.StudentAthletePledge.com.