I have a lot of friends with kids, and I get to see many interactions and situations from which I believe everyone can learn.
This past weekend, my friend’s son wanted to play video games. So he asked, “Hey, Dad, after the pool, can I play video games when we get home?” Dad responds, “Sure, after you do 200 pushups.” No joking, straight-faced response. The mom happily agreed. Needless to say, the son was up in arms about the terms of the deal. The negotiations began and ended up with the son having to do four sets of 25 pushups and four laps in the pool. He reluctantly agreed.
Five pushups into his first set, all you could hear and see was complaining and poor body language. His dad laid down next to him and said, “Come on, you are almost done.” The boy protested, but the dad held firm and said, “Any time you start something, you are one step closer to finishing.”
I couldn’t believe I got to witness all of this going down. The son complained that he was nowhere near finishing, but the dad said, “You are not understanding. I always say, ‘I am almost done,’ because it is my mantra anytime I start something hard.”
The boy finally took note and hunkered down. I happened to time his workout — the boy took 29 minutes to complete it. He didn’t complain a word after that ordeal.
I called the dad the next day and asked if the boy ended up playing video games afterwards; I was genuinely interested. He told me that he didn’t after all. His boy thought he could play the next day, but his dad told him he’d have to work out again before he could. It made me laugh, and I thought it was a great lesson. The boy learned about delayed gratification. He learned how to talk to himself positively while taking on a challenge. He learned to persevere with some humility, and I believe at that moment, he may have even matured a bit more.
The dad talking about the mantra really spoke to me. I have always found it to be beneficial to have positive self-talk while doing anything. While working with kids and adults, I see too often that they are usually berating themselves and telling me how bad they are doing.
Having a positive mantra can impact any endeavor you take on. My favorite mantra is, “This is easy,” something I say every time I am working out. I repeat it over and over and over. I learned it from a friend who is a retired firefighter. We’d do the craziest workouts and every time I asked how it was, without fault, his response was, “That was easy.”
Now, I know it wasn’t easy, but when doing difficult things, it’s easy to fall into the trap of taking your foot off the gas pedal because you are listening to that little voice telling you to slow down or give up.
You tell that voice to shut up and push that gas pedal down. Then let’s see what you’re capable of, just like my friend’s son. spt
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