Most of the posts on the non-Pokemon forums of Smogon are filled with inappropriate language and unfunny inside jokes, e.g. Metang @. That is OK sometimes, but I feel it should be counterbalanced with something positive to help us all improve our personal well-being.
Today I feel inspired. I'd been in something of a rut for a little while in my personal life and in my coursework in college. Nothing major happened, but I am once again pumped to become a future superstar in my field, equivalent to a "Pokemon master," to use a familiar example. It feels like looking out of the window at daybreak, watching the rain cleanse the world as soft sunlight slowly creeps into being. I want to share this auspicious feeling with all of you, the Smogon Community.
First, I will share my philosophy on life. Almost everyone has some kind of long-term goal: to become a master of some art, to create a harmonius family life, etc. But few believe they have the capacity to realize these goals. The problem is twofold: 1) low confidence and 2) insufficient mental discipline. It is usually not due to a lack of "natural" talent or genius.
Let me address the two problems one at a time. Firstly, the issue of confidence. I will illustrate this with a personal anecdote. When I was in middle school, I performed poorly at the MATHCOUNTS contest. This lowered my confidence a great deal. So for the next few years I would suffer mediocre marks on high school contests. I was gradually giving up on my young dream of ever qualifying the USAMO, which was a premier math contest carrying great prestige, basically like Olympic trials for high school math contests. But finally, my roommate told me to start believing in myself. I studied as hard as I had before and started listening to some inspirational rap music. This change of attitude led me to the USAMO, and this carried through in college where I became a member of the three person school team for the Putnam contest. In case you are curious, the songs I listened to were Talib Kweli--Beautiful Struggle and Nas--One Mic.
So confidence plays a huge role in performance, much more than you would expect a priori. A simple exercise to boost confidence goes like this: first think about your goal, e.g., you are a high school basketball player trying to get a college scholarship. Think about those things that make your ability different from others in your position. Maybe you have the softest teardrop or the sweetest hook on your team. Appreciate your strengths and understand your weaknesses. Then you will develop a healthy sense of confidence.
Secondly, let me talk about the issue of mental discipline. I'm often puzzled by people who dream of being great at something but vehemetly refuse to practice. That's most people, in fact. And finally when they realize they are no good (which may not even be true, cf. the part on self-confidence) they chalk up their failure to missing out on the genius trait. That's not true. If there is a genius trait, it is the mental discipline to simply work hard at what you are trying to achieve. You can't get something out of nothing, it's against the laws of physics. I'd like to share this clip from Inside the NBA to get an idea of what I'm talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOGNWTvLvgE&feature=related
You really have to be willing to work hard, that is exactly what it takes for success. A good story is Steve Nash. He isn't physically gifted for a basketball player, and comes from an area where basketball is not all popular, second-tier to sports like hockey and soccer. The reason he was able to become a good basketball player? Pure hard work, shooting hundreds of shots a day. Even when he wasn't getting immediate results, like very few scholarship offers, and then riding the bench in the NBA, he continued to train until he became the best player in the league. Here's a Steve Nash commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjP82KOtreE
It's not just Nash, basically every NBA player has had to overcome long odds to get there. Look for the NBA Amazing Journeys on Youtube, where stars like Lebron and Kobe talk about their hard work.
Finally, the most important ingredient is to not take everything too seriously. Live for the joy of life and of work, and believe that things will work out for the better. When I was younger my parents forced me to work on certain things like SAT books, which gave me a horrible phobia of standardized tests. You have to be at peace with yourself in order to pursue your dream to the fullest.
Please share your personal inspirational stories (everyone has one) and provide links to things you find inspirational, like the clips I posted, or songs, or cartoons, anything. Write about how it inspires you. Enough of Smogon for now, I am ready to grab my destiny!
Today I feel inspired. I'd been in something of a rut for a little while in my personal life and in my coursework in college. Nothing major happened, but I am once again pumped to become a future superstar in my field, equivalent to a "Pokemon master," to use a familiar example. It feels like looking out of the window at daybreak, watching the rain cleanse the world as soft sunlight slowly creeps into being. I want to share this auspicious feeling with all of you, the Smogon Community.
First, I will share my philosophy on life. Almost everyone has some kind of long-term goal: to become a master of some art, to create a harmonius family life, etc. But few believe they have the capacity to realize these goals. The problem is twofold: 1) low confidence and 2) insufficient mental discipline. It is usually not due to a lack of "natural" talent or genius.
Let me address the two problems one at a time. Firstly, the issue of confidence. I will illustrate this with a personal anecdote. When I was in middle school, I performed poorly at the MATHCOUNTS contest. This lowered my confidence a great deal. So for the next few years I would suffer mediocre marks on high school contests. I was gradually giving up on my young dream of ever qualifying the USAMO, which was a premier math contest carrying great prestige, basically like Olympic trials for high school math contests. But finally, my roommate told me to start believing in myself. I studied as hard as I had before and started listening to some inspirational rap music. This change of attitude led me to the USAMO, and this carried through in college where I became a member of the three person school team for the Putnam contest. In case you are curious, the songs I listened to were Talib Kweli--Beautiful Struggle and Nas--One Mic.
So confidence plays a huge role in performance, much more than you would expect a priori. A simple exercise to boost confidence goes like this: first think about your goal, e.g., you are a high school basketball player trying to get a college scholarship. Think about those things that make your ability different from others in your position. Maybe you have the softest teardrop or the sweetest hook on your team. Appreciate your strengths and understand your weaknesses. Then you will develop a healthy sense of confidence.
Secondly, let me talk about the issue of mental discipline. I'm often puzzled by people who dream of being great at something but vehemetly refuse to practice. That's most people, in fact. And finally when they realize they are no good (which may not even be true, cf. the part on self-confidence) they chalk up their failure to missing out on the genius trait. That's not true. If there is a genius trait, it is the mental discipline to simply work hard at what you are trying to achieve. You can't get something out of nothing, it's against the laws of physics. I'd like to share this clip from Inside the NBA to get an idea of what I'm talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOGNWTvLvgE&feature=related
You really have to be willing to work hard, that is exactly what it takes for success. A good story is Steve Nash. He isn't physically gifted for a basketball player, and comes from an area where basketball is not all popular, second-tier to sports like hockey and soccer. The reason he was able to become a good basketball player? Pure hard work, shooting hundreds of shots a day. Even when he wasn't getting immediate results, like very few scholarship offers, and then riding the bench in the NBA, he continued to train until he became the best player in the league. Here's a Steve Nash commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjP82KOtreE
It's not just Nash, basically every NBA player has had to overcome long odds to get there. Look for the NBA Amazing Journeys on Youtube, where stars like Lebron and Kobe talk about their hard work.
Finally, the most important ingredient is to not take everything too seriously. Live for the joy of life and of work, and believe that things will work out for the better. When I was younger my parents forced me to work on certain things like SAT books, which gave me a horrible phobia of standardized tests. You have to be at peace with yourself in order to pursue your dream to the fullest.
Please share your personal inspirational stories (everyone has one) and provide links to things you find inspirational, like the clips I posted, or songs, or cartoons, anything. Write about how it inspires you. Enough of Smogon for now, I am ready to grab my destiny!