Recently I was watching a Q&A show, when one of the panellists said: ”Complacency is Australia’s number one national sport”. With 64 years of frontline life experience under my belt, I couldn’t agree more, plus I’d like to add, “on par with procrastination”.
Those who verbally intend to engage in some activity like joining a club, school, or association, are many. Few actually put their words into action, and even more expect quick results for little or no effort. One of my previous Taekwondo students’ father once called me, complaining that our self-defence training was insufficient, after his daughter was assaulted at school by another girl. The matter was resolved quickly, when I pointed out that his daughter had missed 95% of her training sessions.
Facing reality, many drop out at different stages of progress, in fact, most of them do so at an early stage. Throughout the thirty years I have taught Martial Arts, I have heard every excuse under the sun. To begin with, there is no excuse or reason. They just don’t turn up anymore, sometimes owing several months of fees. Then there is this popular line every teacher or coach is very familiar with; “I am dropping out to do football, tennis, dancing, music”, or any other ‘something else’ which never materialises into anything more than 1 or 2 trial lessons, if at all. Then they tell their football, tennis, dancing, music, or ‘something else’ instructor; “I am dropping out to do martial arts etc!
Once, a student, who was known for his low attendance told me “I want to be ‘top notch’ in martial arts, but I am dropping out” – “what the f…???”, please explain.
Another classic drop-out is the ‘movie-inspired’ teenage boy, soon to be hero, who misses most the classes, lacks effort at training, then quits, intending to join the TRG or SAS. Time passing, you bump into him by chance, and learn he hasn’t done anything, nor is he presently ‘really doing’ anything. Triggering a call from the past, this reminds me of my teenage years when I was going to be an Astronaut, but at least I found and pursued various alternative paths.
Here is another common excuse, “I am devastated because I don’t have the time/money to attend classes”, followed soon after, by Facebook posts showing them ‘living it up in luxury’. My advice is be honest with yourself and others. If you are really that devastated, you will do something about the situation you are in. Try willpower, a learned and cultivated mental strength that provides the starting block for all your endeavours.