My son has now been in secondary school for about a month.
And it’s been a learning curve.
The amount of homework.
The amount of classrooms to find.
The amount of books.
Now, his school’s extracurricular clubs are excellent.
They have everything from a running club to a quilting club.
And in the spirit of responsibility, Emma (my wife) and I decided he should choose which he wanted to join.
Any choose he did…
A-L-L of them.
Something every night of the week.
On top of all his out-of-school sports.
By week four the cracks appeared…
I picked him up from the computing club, jumped in the car and threw him some pasta to eat on the drive to rugby practice.
We pulled into the rugby club car park and the tears started to flow…
“Dad, I’m so tired. I can’t do both. I feel like a failure!”
My response:
“Trying and failing is ok. You’ve learned something useful.”
Now, could I have told him this would be the outcome?
100%.
He was clearly cashing cheques his 11-year-old ass couldn’t cash.
In all honesty, I was impressed he lasted as long as he did.
But here’s the thing, something that’s insightful for all of us in this game…
In my experience, the stories of others will only ever get you so far.
Trying things for yourself is key.
Giving things a go… those are the lessons that stick with you.
Remember, trying is good.
Failing is good.
You live. You learn.
But never trying?
…especially because of fear or failure?
That is a guaranteed one-way ticket to nowhere.
Until next time.
Make More. Provide More. Be More.
Charlie Hutton
