The London Marathon
I watched the London marathon this weekend and took some time yesterday to type out a quick email for you. It's something I love watching every year because of the massive number of people entering it. I find it amazing to watch the tens of thousands of people jogging around London, and I'm pretty determined that one day (when I'm slightly less busy perhaps) I'll enter it myself and see how fast I can drag my non-Olympian physique around the course.
As I was watching the race yesterday though, it reminded me of one of my favourite quotes about success. It comes from the actor, Will Smith, who once told children at the 'Children's Choice' awards that the secret to success lies in 'running and reading'. Have a watch below:
Running...
So, according to Mr Smith, then, we all have a voice in the back of our head that tells us negative things whilst running. It says stuff like "I'm so tired, my lungs are about to pop" or "I'm out of breath, I need to take a break". Will Smith says if you learn how to defeat that voice whilst running you will learn how to not quit when things get hard in your life.
What an amazing way to look at life.
From a young age we're surrounded by influences that suggest that success takes a ginormous chunk of natural talent, and that most people can't achieve their dreams because they simply don't have the necessary ability. That's simply not true. The most 'talented' people in the world are almost always the people who have done the most 'running'.
Don't believe me? Just look at any significantly successful person that's walked the face of the Earth. In the business world, Richard Branson or Steve Jobs are no doubt world class...and I assure you they've taken more action than practically anyone else. In the sports world Muhammad Ali or Cristiano Ronaldo are/were world class athletes...once again, they've taken more action than everyone else around them. The scientific data on this is overwhelming, the book 'Bounce' by ex-number one British table tennis champion, Mathew Syed, articulates it beautifully.
"Anywhere and everywhere you look, the people at the top of their fields are practicing, practicing, practicing..."
It works EXACTLY the same in the academic world for your child studying maths (or any other subject). They don't need to be a genius to get better, they simply need to PRACTICE!
If there's any message we (and I) would like to convey at Magical Maths, it's exactly that! Any child can significantly improve their maths ability with practice. Nobody is 'destined' to be useless at maths!
Don't get me wrong, this is tough for a child aged 4-11 years old. But YOU can help them. What is your child doing right now, this week to help them get better at maths? It doesn't need to be the equivalent of the London Marathon - 15 minutes of maths practice is FAR better than nothing. Could you develop a routine where you spend 15 minutes each Saturday morning to help them with their maths? They'll perform better if you do...
Until next time,
Colin.