quitter never wins and winner never quits

And I'm going to help you do that, because I believe you are a winner. And what does the teacher say? That just means you need to try harder. Here is where you can really shine as a parent: 'You're right. How can your child be encouraged to learn and apply the valuable life lessons that will empower him or her to continue doing even what is difficult? Certainly no one wants to teach their child to be lazy or to shrink back from any sort of difficulty. At Reveal Martial Arts we do believe in training hard and training smart we have never pretended that our classes would be easy. Your child may complain that some aspect of class is 'too hard'. However, when doing this, don't place too much emphasis on 'fun' as the end all and be all of life simply ask, 'So what is it that you don't like about class?' Here are some possibilities: But is the 'fun factor' the main criteria we want to teach our children to use in determining the value of something?įirst, it is important to find out the underlying reasons why your child thinks class is no longer 'fun'. 'It's just not fun anymore!' Of course we all want our precious children's young years to be fun, rather than just filled with work and drudgery and sorrow. How should you respond to the most common ones? There are a number of reasons why students may want to quit. What if your child wants to quit? What are you going to teach him or her? It wasn't easy for her it required her to set aside her own feelings and to encourage her young boy to do the right thing - no matter how hard - but the end results of those many lessons in perseverance have more than paid off. Instead, he learned to persevere, to work hard, to succeed - and to love the art of karate. Needless to say, Adam never got up the nerve to tell his teacher that the reason he wanted to quit was because karate was no longer fun and exciting. 'If you want to quit,' she announced, 'you will have to tell your teacher why.' End of discussion.

His mother encouraged him, appealed to his character, and gave him pep talks. However, soon the novelty wore off, and the realities of learning to kick and punch, forms and sparring became a bit overwhelming to him. He wanted to do karate and become strong. Why would any parent seem so determined to discourage her daughter from persevering in a worthwhile endeavor? Why not encourage diligent practice, excellence, good learning habits, and dedication?Ĭontrast this example with that of my instructor’s student from Kentucky. I was left as bewildered as her daughter.

This woman certainly appeared to be a loving, caring mother. I just don't want you to feel like you can't ever quit. Mom: Of course you can keep on taking lessons, honey. Your teacher doesn't know everything, you know, and just because she says you have to practice or play a certain way doesn't mean you have to do it.Ĭhild: But she's the teacher! Why can't I keep on taking lessons? I can certainly understand if you want to quit.Īt this point, the child seemed both bewildered and slightly exasperated.Ĭhild: Mo-o-om! What are you saying? I thought you wanted me to take piano lessons! Now you want me to quit? Mom: I know you said that, dear, but your last lesson didn't look like fun to me. You can do something else besides piano.Ĭhild: Mom! I said I wanted to play piano. If you feel like it's too much for you, let me know. Mom: It seems that the teacher makes you practice an awful lot. Mom: Are your piano lessons getting to be too hard? You don't have to keep them up, you know. Their discussion went something like this: Not that long ago, I heard a conversation between a mother and young daughter that would have been unthinkable back when I was growing up. Without meaning to, we teach our children to give up. All too often we quit trying, sometimes even before we start. As a society, we have so little perseverance, so little endurance, and so little stamina that it becomes difficult for us as parents to instill these important values in our children. Unfortunately, our modern American culture is working against us. We want them to be the best that they can be. Most of us, in fact, want our children to be winners. I am sure that this is not deliberate I doubt that any parent intentionally decides, 'I'm teaching my child to be a quitter.' Many parents today are raising their children to be quitters.

Quitter never wins and winner never quits