Written by When I teach about character development with coaches and teachers, the first thing we do is to dispel myths. Myths such as the 10,000 hour rule and how participating in sports helps build character.
THIS IS FICTION.
We know that there are far more factors than just literal hours spent in honing a craft for us to pin our child’s professional hopes to 10,000 and we know that participation doesn’t teach life lessons.
- Here is what sports does – It provides an experience.
- Here is what you “the coach” does – Provide the lessons learned from those experiences.
What builds character, is how we talk to athletes around diversity. It is what we draw their attention to after practices and competitions, what we have them reflect on, or what messages we consistently drive home. What this means, is that athletes listen to you.
It may not always feel like it, but just like parents – kids listen to you. They take what you say to heart and it has a tremendous impact on their mindset. Therefore, if we want to cultivate a more resilient mindset for those we are leading think about this concept:
Q: How do kids attribute their successes or failures?
We want to emphasize that their successes are due to the skills they control and if they had a bad game, it’s okay. Bad games happen and we want to keep their attention on their skills, not their personalities or talents. Similar to a previous article on goal-setting and skills, we are planting the seeds for a Growth Mindset. It takes time to build habits and these small conversations around performance make all the difference on the character they build.
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
– Frederick Douglass