As a kid, I was always yelled at when running laps: “Don’t cut the corners!” It taught me that giving your all should be a discipline exercised in every aspect of life. This was a concept that has been ingrained in me ever since I was a kid, as I played multiple sports and figured out which ones I liked and which ones I didn’t.
According to businessinsider.com, 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions are broken by February. Here’s my challenge to you if you made a resolution: be that 20 percent to make it past February.
As I begin my last semester of college, I am more tired than ever before. I find it challenging not to focus on “what’s next.” I think this is something that everyone struggles with at some time in their college career or life in general. If you have not faced this, you probably will at some point.
I argue that in sports, it is always about what is next. How do athletes keep pushing themselves without getting burnt out? How do you continually keep going and not take the easy way out? How do you not slack off in practice when nobody is watching? Just like a New Year’s resolution, it is hard to always stay true.
The most important piece of advice I have received in my 21 years of life is to never give up. That may seem very cliche, but just think about it for a second: half the battle to anything is just getting out of bed and showing up.
Whether it be going to practice, showing up to games, going out on the field, going to class or even going to chapel-after you show up, you may as well give it your all.
If you only put half the effort into something, you will get half the results. It is never as fulfilling as going all in. I can attest to this. I used to put in the bare minimum in everything and would then wonder why it was not good enough.
Giving full effort is always worth it. People will be able to see the difference on the court, on the field and in the classroom. You will stand out. You will get people to wonder what makes you that way. They will ask, ‘Why are you so motivated?’ or ‘How do you do it?’
Maybe I still have not sold you on this idea of not cutting corners, but let me just leave you with this: I have never seen more people applying this in their daily lives than I have at Harding. People here are different than the “average man,” in that they do not cut corners.
I have never been more inspired to live this out than since I began at Harding. Surrounding yourself with others who also do this is a great place to start, and do not take for granted the time you have here.
