“Persist Without Exception”

     John Leonard

           I am writing this to the 5% of our team who want to be GOOD at swimming. And perhaps it will be a lesson for the 25% who want to be GOOD at life. Not existing, not participating, but GOOD.

           Swimming is good for everyone. It teaches tons of wonderful life lessons, regardless of commitment or interest level. And deciding to “just participate” is a valid choice as much as “I want to be a great swimmer.”

       There are HUGE differences between the two. So I want to be clear about what it takes to be GREAT at something…swimmer, cowboy, Indian chief, fireman, lawyer, doctor, judge, scientist, anything, really.

         The title of this article is on the back of one of our team Tee-shirts. It comes from my son Jackson’s college essay for application to college. It was the title of the Essay. He learned the lesson in his last two years of High School. He and another young man who will go unnamed, were approximately the same speed at the end of their Sophomore years of swimming in high school.

            Jackson came and said “what do I have to do, in order to be my best?”

I told him. Astronomical amounts of vicious savage hard  work. “Son, you are not real talented at this.”

            The Other Young Man came to me and said “I want to be really good, I want to final at High School States next year.” (BTW, I “heard” the same question, but this time there was no “question” actually asked…) So I told him the answer to a question which had not really been asked. He was just telling me what he wanted. I missed that. Hell, I want to be young, good looking and have a full head of hair again.  Really, no one cares what you WANT. What will you WORK for? . He nodded his head, which I took as assent, (but he meant “I heard you.”) .

   Over the next 24 months, Jackson made me really, really proud. He did everything I asked him to do and did it all out and WELL. Then he did A LOT MORE, on his own initiative. He lived in the strength room when he was not in the water. He read a huge amount (about swimming and life).  (And for parents who are wondering, he also had the highest GPA in his High School class of any athlete, and got accepted to all sorts of excellent academic colleges. He studied plenty too.)

     The other young man came to “most” of the workouts and “mostly” worked hard. He was more talented than Jackson, so for the first six months, they improved about the same amount.

     Then one day, he said to me “I have to go to this party Friday night.”  I raised my eyebrow and said “I thought you wanted to be good?”. “I DO! But I have to be at this!”  I pointed out the obvious absurdity of that. He went to the party.

      Two weeks later he broke up with his girlfriend and missed 3-4 practices sulking over that. “I Thought You Wanted To Be Good?”  “I DO! But I had to get over this.”

   In swim meets, Jackson pulled incrementally ahead.

Over the ensuing 12 months, our “other swimmer” had a million “I have to” excuses. All of which were actually CHOICES that were couched, when he spoke, as “Have to’s.” 

      Jackson Stuck to the Task. He’d heard the story of “Chop Wood, Haul Water since he was old enough to carry on a conversation.”

      By the end of their Senior Year, Jackson swam perhaps better than I thought possible. And our other swimmer was “just a bit off, just a bit disappointed” where he wanted to be. I was not surprised.

      Now we all get to CHOSE our own level of Commitment. We are lucky enough to live in the USA where that’s the norm. If your child lived in China, it would not be. Nothing wrong with making choices.

      In my entire life, EVERY SINGLE HIGH ACHIEVER I have met (and I have met a large number) in any walk of life, profession or sport, has persevered WITHOUT EXCEPTION. None of “I want to be Good! Except…I have to go here or there next week, or to the party, or take a vacation”.

    ANY MORAL CHOICE IS FINE. But what’s not fine, is deluding yourself into thinking you are making a commitment when your actions say you are not.

When you are self-delusional, you are in for a hard and difficult life.

You can’t compromise yourself into being good. Compromise and high level performance are entirely opposite in nature.  “Good enough…IS NOT.”

IF you are in the 5% who aspire to high performance in swimming, understand that. If you are in the 25% who aspire to high performance in life, Understand that.

If reading this makes you uncomfortable, perhaps that is a sure sign that you need some reflective thinking time about what you want in swimming and in life.

All the Best,

John Leonard