“Discipline is not a one-time event,” explains Eliud Kipchoge. “Self discipline is like building your muscle. It’s like going to the gym. You cannot go to the gym today and build your muscle. You should get a program and go slowly by slowly—that’s the way to build your muscle. And that’s the way you can cultivate your self discipline.”
And the same applies to studying
In order for you to be successful you need to consider some facts. One is self-discipline. Self-discipline starts with you. It's not other person. It starts with you. Self-discipline means it's doing what's right rather than doing what you feel. When you've decided to do something, do it. No excuses. Then you are self-disciplined. Discipline is not a one-time event. You make discipline your life-style. Remember, only the disciplined ones are free in life. I'll repeat again: only the disciplined ones are free in life. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods. You are a slave to your passions.
Text by Simon Cambers. Reblogged from The Guardian.
Rafael Nadal’s body may be creaking but his desire remains undimmed
The 35-year-old was at his best to win his 21st grand slam title and there may be more despite his history of injuries
One of the most remarkable traits of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer throughout their incredible careers has been the way they have maintained their hunger for titles and sheer enthusiasm for the sport. No matter the obstacles in their path or the advancing of time, winning seems to bring them just as much joy as it did when they first tasted victory at the highest level.
The sheer elation on Nadal’s face on Sunday as he completed an incredible comeback to beat Daniil Medvedev in the final of the Australian Open told its own story. A month and a half after the recovery from foot surgery left him wondering if he would even make it to Melbourne, and a month after he had Covid, which also interrupted his preparations, Nadal is back as champion and for now, the most successful of the lot.
Winning his first grand slam at 19, as Nadal did at the French Open in 2005, was a “super-special moment” but when you’re 35 and up until six weeks ago, you did not even know whether you would be able to play in the tournament, let alone win it, the feeling is something else altogether.
A question I frequently get is "how do I stay motivated? When it’s cold out or when it’s dark. Don’t I ever just want to stay inside and skip my run?"
And the answer is of course I do. I’m only human. And yet, I still find a way to get out there and go for a run.
So how do I do it? The answer is that, long ago, I realized that motivation is unnecessary. Motivation is fickle. Motivation is fleeting. What you really want is momentum. That feeling you have when you’ve got a run streak going and you don’t want to break that streak. That’s momentum. It’s the inertia of you, set in motion. And a body in motion wants to stay in motion.
So get out there. Run. And keep showing up. The run might be terrible, but that’s the thing about running. Even a terrible run is worth something. Because even a terrible run keeps your momentum going. If you’re going to wait for a day when you’re feeling motivated, the only thing you’ll ever accomplish is waiting. So run when it’s dark. Run when it’s cold. Go. No more excuses. No more waiting.
And next time, when you don’t feel motivated to run. You can tell yourself. I don’t need motivation. I’ve been here before. The dark isn’t so dark. The cold isn’t so cold. I have built a habit. This is who I am. This is what I do. I have momentum.
... AND EXACTLY THE SAME APPLIES TO STUDYING!
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If you don't start the day making your bed, you've just started the day with an excuse. You'll then justify reasons to avoid anything after that.
If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.
Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack.
It was a simple task — mundane at best. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.
If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.
And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
The Dunning Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias that makes people believe they are smarter and more capable than they actually are. The effect is related to people’s general inaptitude to recognize their lack of ability. To learn how this comes about and what you can do to avoid it from happening to you, watch this video (you can read the script down below):
SCRIPT
SCENE 1
On April 19, 1995, McArthur Wheeler, robbed a bank with his face glazed with lemon juice, believing the juice would make his face invisible to the surveillance cameras. He thought so because lemon juice works as invisible ink on a piece of paper.
SCENE 2
Police broadcasted the security camera footage on the local eleven o’clock news and just after midnight, Arthur was arrested. Incredulously, he said “But I wore the juice...”.
Have you struggled with really awful experiences and wished they would quickly pass? Or cursed your strings of bad luck and wondered when the bad streak will ever end? What about the other end – have you ever let a great victory get into your head and made bad decisions? Consider the following story.
There’s a famous fable of an ancient powerful king. As powerful as he was, he often struggled with emotional highs and lows, and that had caused him heavily during critical moments in battles.
The King was prone to periods of great elation where he would make very poor decisions, and periods of great despair where he would get extremely upset.
One of the kingdom’s wise men created a ring for the King, a device that would help stop him from getting lost in his high and low moments.
Kyle Terrell Lowry (born March 25, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended Cardinal Dougherty High School in Philadelphia and declared for the NBA draft after two seasons of college basketball with the Villanova Wildcats. He was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 24th pick in the 2006 NBA draft.
Lowry's tenacious playing style has often earned him comparisons to a pit bull or bulldog, with many citing his toughness, leadership and instinct for winning plays on the court. Lowry is considered a strong rebounder for his position, as well as an elite defender. He holds the Toronto Raptors' franchise record for triple-doubles, as well as the most made three-point field goals in a season, for the 2013–14 season.
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40 years later, Joan Benoit Samuelson is still running after those same crazy dreams:
This is where 150,000 miles will get you: out here in the middle of nowhere. It's quiet out here, just birds and nature and your thoughts... thoughts about what got you here in the first place, every mile that led you here. And with every tick of the odometer, you're reminded that miles can either do one of two things: they can either break you down, or... they can make your stronger.
150,000 miles and still running.
It's only crazy until you do it.
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Good morning, Year Elevens, today’s assembly is about the start of a journey. The start of the rest of your lives. In 2 years’ time all of you will be finishing your A Levels. In 3 years’ time you’ll be studying across the world, studying at the university of your choice. In 5 years’ time you’ll have started your careers. Many of you will be in this room working for the top institutions across the globe. You will then get married, you then may buy a house. In 10 years’ time your life will be set for you. In 15 years you’ll be 30 and from then on your path, your life will be set.
I’m sorry, Mr. Headmaster, let me tell you why that approach may fail you. I know people who graduated at 21 and didn’t get a job until they were 27. I know people who graduated late at 25 and they found work immediately. I know people who never went to university, but found what they love at 18. I know people who found a job straight out of college making decent money, but hate what they do. I know people who took gap years and found their purpose. I know people who were so sure about what they were going to do at 16, they change their mind at 26. I know people who have children but are single, and I know people who are married but had to wait 8 to 10 years to have children. I know people in relationships who love someone else. I know people who love each other but aren’t together... So my point is everything in life happens according to our time, our clock. You may look at some of your friends and think that they’re ahead of you, maybe some of them you feel are behind, but everything happens at their own pace. They have their own time and clock and so do you. Be patient. At age 25, Mark Cuban was a bartender in Dallas. It took till 32 for J.K. Rowling to be published for Harry Potter after being rejected by 12 publishers. Ortega launched Zara when he was 39. Jack Ma started Alibaba when he was 35. Morgan Freeman got his big break at 52. Steve Carell only got his break after 40 years old. Virgin was started by Richard Branson at 34. Getting your degree after 25 is still an achievement. Not being married at 30 but still happy is beautiful. Starting a family after 35 is still possible, and buying a house after 40 is still great. Don’t let anyone rush you with their timelines. Because as Einstein said, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that’s counted truly counts.” And this is the most important thing, I want you to be able to create meaningful, purposeful, fulfilling lives for yourselves, and learn how to use that to make an impact and a difference in the lives of others. That, will be true success.
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Crazy dreams don't have an age limit. Just ask Marjorie, a late bloomer.
Listen to this videoclip and fill in the blanks:
______________ said I was ______________ to run my first __________ at ______, but that's the ____________ thing about _____________ old: I can just _____________ not to hear _____________. It's only crazy until you do it: just do it.
No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.
What it takes to climb the world’s first 9c? Let’s find out in Silence, a movie by Bernardo Giménez. It shows what preceded the afternoon of September 3rd 2017 when Adam Ondra, a professional rock climber and currently one of the best climbers in the world, made a little piece of climbing history.
If you work hard, you may fail;
if you don't work, you have already failed. The harder I work, the luckier I get.
The only secret to success is work, hard, relentless, daily, stubborn work. Nothing comes easily nor effortlessly, nothing comes for free — not even to the best students, the best artists or top-ranked sportspeople. If you want to succeed in whatever endeavour you take up, the only way is through work: there's no shortcut. If you fail, if you fall, you've got to stand up and fight...
... just as Adam Ondra and Chris Sharma, two of the best climbers in the world, show in these videoclips. Of course, Ondra and Sharma have been gifted by nature, no question about that, but their talent would be completely useless without their work ethics, without their persistence and determination... not to mention careful, conscientious, thorough previous planning and organization, leaving as little as possible to chance and improvisation.
Take a look at the very last shot in the first videoclip when the camera is moving away from the cave and notice how small Ondra is, how small and insignificant all of us are when compared to nature... If you want the best in any walk of life (at school, at sport, at arts, friendship or love), first you've got to give the best.
Take a look now at the second videoclip and count how many times each climber fails and falls down. And what happens? They don't give up, they don't quit, they don't surrender... they try again! And again and again and again! That's the only recipe, that's the only prescription, that's the only way.
No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.
You have a gift. What is it? Everybody is unique. Everyone is gifted in some way or another. Do you know what your gift is? If you don't, it is never too late to start searching for it. Find your gift, start working hard on it, pursue it, develop it. Be the best version of yourself you can be.
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Blessed are the arrogant For there is the kingdom of their own company Blessed are the superstars For the magnificence in their light We understand better our own insignificance Blessed are the filthy rich For you can only truly own what you give away Like your pain
At LEZ we firmly believe that your actions dictate the consequences. That is why we would like to give you some advice: one of your main goals in life should be sowing... yes, sowing: your deeds, good or bad, will repay you in kind; the way you behave in life will affect the treatment you will receive from others.
Sit back, relax and take the time to listen to Francisco Salvador, Quesitosgiver on Twitter (please think carefully about the meaning of his username), a scholar of failure, as he calls himself. Be patient, listen right up till the end, pay attention and you will learn an invaluable lesson to live a better and happier life. Enjoy!
Quiz: "Quesitosgiver"... Why that name? Why?
NB: 1 point is up for grabs at the next Test for Unit 1 for the first ESO student who sends the first correct answer to our email (IMPORTANT: the message MUST NOT reach us before Thursday 21st at 5 pm so that all students have an equal chance to guess).
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