How Tough Are You?

I want to go ahead and dispel some misinformation that I have seen as of late, especially in response to works like Sports Gene.  I've seen some loathing the findings that indeed certain people are predisposed to be successful with respect to biological functions like acquiring muscle mass or running fast.  A sense of fatalism grips some people as if they just realized all their hopes and endeavors are pointless.  Well they aren't.  Perhaps many of these people just aren't mentally tough enough to rise to the challenge.

I think any good scientist will say, yes there are some people predisposed to have success with less work based on genetics, but by no means is that nearly the whole picture.  And truly it may even be a non-factor.  Physical capability is only the entry point to being a great athlete.  And much of that can be trained up even without exceptional athleticism.  Think of what the immortal Paavo "Flying Finn" Nurmi said: "Mind is everything.  Muscle, pieces of rubber.  All that I am, I am because of my mind."

At the lowest levels of sports you always have those special athletes that are vastly superior to the rest of the field.  It is obvious that those athletes have the intrinsic nature necessary to be a successful athlete in a sport.  We get that.  Each year, though, you see a few of these talented athletes fall a little closer back to earth and lose their vast advantage.  Now this could be for a couple reasons.  Maybe they lost interest in the sport.  Maybe there were circumstances that required them to leave the sport for a reason.

I tend to think it is one reason why: these athletes are not willing to put in the amount of work necessary to maintain their success.  Sure you have the issue of occasionally an athlete physically matures early and loses the advantage over their peers as they get older, but I find the early maturation excuse a little too often cited.  What I really believe is at play is that when the athletes were younger they didn't need to work hard to beat their competition.  Now that they have lost some or most of the physical advantages they would need to develop a work regimen on par with the rest of their athletic brethren.  I tend to think that is the true reason many child prodigies fall off.  They aren't willing to put in an elite level work ethic even if they have elite level talent.

Now take the athlete who was never particularly the most amazing athlete on the track or on the field.  He or she learned to work hard or suffer from mediocrity.  This athlete was always okay putting in all the hard work, sweat, blood, tears, and them some, necessary to achieve the next level.  Eventually he will catch up to that athlete who was always physically more prepared for success but never had it together between the ears.  For the average kid, the day that he caught up to the more "talented" kid it was simply business as usual.  For the one being surpassed, many different potential ways to handle the situation arise but history shows that the majority of these athletes choose not to go the way of the average athlete, by which I mean they choose not to develop an elite work ethic.

Now consider this: many athletes don't achieve the height of their athletic success until their late 20s and early 30s.  For most, that means they would have spend 10-20 years in their sport before they maximize their potential.  It takes an overwhelming amount of mental toughness and perseverance to stick with a single activity that long.  You want a short answer to if genetics is the reason why people don't achieve their maximum?  Hardly!  Most people simply don't reach their maximum because they either don't want to work hard enough to get there or they don't want to work long enough.  You'll never know exactly what you are capable of nor know how well you can compete against your peers until you give a good bit of yourself to training for an extended period of time.  If you aren't willing to do that, don't complain!