SUCCESS IS THE DEATH OF ME???!!

WARNING: this post is repetitive..

Malcom Gladwell, the author of Outliers, has the idea that people are successful due to opportunities they are given and whether or not a person takes advantage of these opportunities. Because of this, I believe that Gladwell would disagree with the statement “success is the ‘disease of me.’”

                All of Gladwell’s examples of an “outlier” have lots of success in their stories.  So in theory, he could say that without success, they would not be an outlier. I think that if he truly believed that success can bring a person down, he would have included a story about someone who had all this success and then they crashed and burned; but he didn’t.

                As for my personal opinion, I think that success can SOMETIMES be bad for a person. I guess it just depends on their ego. If it’s someone with the growth mindset, I really don’t think that it would affect them that much. However, if someone with a fixed mindset has success, then I think that it would cause them to just be satisfied and not try as hard on the next time.  Most (if not all) outliers have the growth mindset, so success wouldn’t affect them.

                Like my last essay, I’ll end with a quote. "The two hardest things to handle in life are failure & success” (it was anonymous). Isn’t that the truth? Like I said earlier, I don’t think success is bad all the time, it depends on the person; which is what I think Gladwell thinks.

Am I a Natural at Something?

I have pondered this question many times. Before I answer it, I’d like to give my opinion on the definition of a “natural.” To me, being a natural is simply mastering whatever you do. Whether it is soccer, playing a violin, etc.  , naturals make whatever they do look like a piece of cake.  Now I might be going to the extreme side here, but let’s face it, some people are just a lot more gifted than others. No matter how hard you try and practice, there is always someone who can learn whatever you are doing a lot easier than you can. For example, I’m a pretty athletic person, but one sport I cannot play is golf. Yet I know several people who never played a sport in their life go out and play one game of golf and they do really good.  You also have to consider something else; people become a natural at different times in their career.  Let’s go back to the Michael Jordan example.  It’s pretty safe to say that MJ was a natural at basketball. But like I said in my previous post, he was cut from his junior high school basketball team. Nobody thought he would become the greatest player to ever walk on a basketball court. He didn’t become a standout until later in high school. However, people also become naturals at a very early age.  Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi arrived at FC Barcelona’s youth development program at the age of thirteen. That’s right. Thirteen. Can you imagine being a boy and being at one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world? 

            Now back to the original question.  Am I a natural at something? I think so. I started playing soccer at the age of four. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to sit here and say that I was this amazing player like Lionel Messi, because I definitely was not.  However, I was somewhat of a standout in my soccer playing days.  I don’t know what it was, but everything about soccer just made sense. There was never a moment when I felt like “What the heck am I supposed to be doing?” The feel of a ball at my feet just seemed natural (no pun intended) and it just felt right being out on a pitch.  It always felt like people were watching me to learn how to do something. So yes, I think I was a natural (and it feels pretty cool too).

"I Believe I Can Fly":The Success (and failure) of Michael Jordan

First of all, I'd like to say that Michael Jordan is one of the greatest,if not the greatest, athletes of all time. The way he played the game of basketball was incredible. I think that this commercial does a very good job of explaining his success. Every athlete claims to have had failures in their life. However, I think Michael Jordan (MJ) has had a little bit more than most athletes. In junior high, MJ was cut from the school basketball team. I mean...wow. The greatest player ever to play the game was cut from a measly junior high school team?? Yep. During the commercial he gives specific numbers on his failures, and they are pretty alarming. The last line he says though, pretty much sums it up. He gives credit to his failures for making him succeed. He says this as an inspiration to people out there going through tough times.

I think that the set up of this commercial is very clever. The dark hallway creates a dramatic tone. MJ steps in and ignores all the wealthy and obnoxious fans and press and continues down the hallway. As he passes a janitor, he gives him the head nod. I think this represents how MJ can identify with people who have struggling jobs or other troubles (such as the janitor; don't think I'm saying janitors are lower class, I'm just trying to back up my idea). 

Just to sum all of this up I'd like to share with you a MJ quote I ran across..." Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." This is the growth mindset in a nutshell. 

On a more serious note...be sure to tune into WSAZ Channel 3 this SATURDAY @ 7 to watch our Thundering Herd take on the Bowling Green Falcons. I'm actually drving up to the game so look for me! 
GO HERD!

What was Marita's Bargain?

Marita's was that if she was willing to spend vast amounts of time on studying and homework, then in return, the Knowledge is Power Program would give her an education that woud get her out of a poverty-stricken lifestyle.  Malcom Gladwell describes this as an example of being an outlier because Marita was given a chance to attend a good school. Because she was a very self-motivated girl, she was able to take advantage of that chance.  

On a more serious note....

                                             WE ARE...MARSHALL and...          

GO HERD!!!