Ordinary People, Doing Extraordinary Things

Carol Dweck, in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success* tells the story of hugely successful athletes, who all started out, with no particular signs of greatness about them.

Michael Jordan wasn't recruited by the college he wanted to play for. He wasn't drafted by the first two NBA teams that could have chosen him. He was cut from his varsity team.

His response?

"At the University of North Carolina, he constantly worked on his weakness – his defensive game and his ball handling and shooting. The coach was taken aback by his willingness to work harder than anyone else. Once, after the team's last game of the season, Jordan went and practiced his shots of hours."*

When you get depressed about your abilities - what do you do?

You practise. You try again. You never give up.

People who dread mistakes are perfectionists, believing they have a potential they keep missing out on. However, greatness is not inherent, and it is not inherited.

Greatness springs from the willingness to keep going.

Ordinary people, doing extraordinary things.

This is why, in your group classes, results don't matter. Effort matters.

At BodyChance, students are puzzled that they get no feedback on their essays. As part of the graduation process from Stage II to Stage II, every trainee must write an essay, interpreting Alexander's story "Evolution of A Technique" from Use of the Self.

They hand in their essay, and that's it. We don't fuss about the content, we only care that they made the effort. It's a weird world in BodyChance.

Babe Ruth looked like a "natural" - he played brilliantly, despite the fact that he seemed to eat like a pig, going on to play with a fat bulging belly; then later drink himself into a stupor.

Was that the real picture? Carol Dweck takes up my narrative…

"Many winters, he worked out the entire off-season at the gym to become more fit. In fact, after the 1925 season, when it looked as though he was washed up, he really committed himself to getting in shape, and it worked. … He also loved to practise. In fact, when he joined the Boston Red Sox, the veterans resented him for wanting to take batting practice every day. He wasn't just a rookie; he was a rookie pitcher."

Behind every "genius" lies incredible effort.

And not a onetime effort, but again. And again. And again. Recommitting, re-deciding, going on, when all seems lost. This is the mark of "genius", of which we only have to look at FM's determination. to affirm again. He said:

"Anyone can do what I did, IF they will do what I did."

And what was that?

Consistent effort. Determination. Focus.

With that, extraordinary things can be done by ordinary people.

***

And one determined, focused activity for an Alexscovery teacher to pursue, is the understanding of how we are designed to move. Check it out - BodyThinking Online.