Good morning and happy Father’s Day to all of the great dads out there. From the constant financial guidance, to my wonderful sense of humor, and of course my introduction into sports, I have a lot to thank my dad for. To honor my dad this Father’s Day, I wanted to share the top 5 mental strengths that I learned from my dad over the years that have shaped me into the person I am today.
1. Commitment. Growing up, it was a rule in my house that if we joined a team or a club, we were not allowed to quit. If we made a commitment to the team we had to see that commitment through, no matter how many long games I spent sitting on the bench.
2. Perseverance. When I was younger, I competed in a foul shot competition where I had to take 25 free throws. In order to make it to the next round, I had to make more of the 25 shots than any of the other girls. In the two weeks leading up to the competition, my dad and I went outside every night and didn’t go inside for dinner until I made 100 free throws. As you can imagine, this took hours and most nights I was left shooting, literally, in the dark. However come competition day, I made 23 out of the 25 free throws and won the competition.
3. Uniqueness. My dad always taught me that if I wanted to be successful, I had to do what nobody else wanted to do. This resulted in me offering to be the only oboe player in the band, the only person that volunteered to be the catcher on my softball team, and one out of two girls in a boys’ football league.
4. Task-Orientation. After every one of my games, my dad never talked about the score (luckily…because we oftentimes lost..). The only thing we ever talked about was how well I played, if I gave my best effort, I was improving in my own abilities, and what I should continue to work on. This motivated me to focus on mastering my own skills and improving my game rather than focusing on winning or losing.
5. Loyalty. No matter if the Giants started out 0-6 or 6-0, my dad taught me that we would always turn on the TV on Sundays and root for them, no matter how frustrating those 5 hours were.
Of course there are plenty of other mental strengths that I learned from my dad (for example, never waste your time with light beer). Today, throw something on the grill, pop open a few cold ones and honor everything that your dad has done for you!