The Belief of a Toddler - What We Can Learn About Sports and Life
The photo above is of my son Charlie playing baseball.
I watched a Ted Talk over the summer given by Graham Shaw called, “Why People Believe They Can’t Draw”. I stumbled across this in a desperate search to learn how to draw (I told myself for years that I could not draw - The cover photo for this article is a self-portrait. Not great in the grand scheme of art but not hideous).
The link for the talk is below. I strongly recommend watching it for two reasons. The first is for belief, the video does an excellent job of helping you believe in yourself, something that I am going to try to accomplish in the rest of this post. The second reason is to learn how to draw a great cartoon character. Since watching this video, I’ve drawn characters such as these and always get comments about them, some negative, but mostly complimentary and positive
Here is the link to the talk: Graham Shaw: Why people believe they can't draw | TED Talk
A summary of the video:
Graham starts off by asking how many people say they can draw. A few raise their hands, most don’t and Graham comments that this is not because of talent, but rather of belief. In the next 10 minutes, Graham shows the crowd how to draw the face of a cartoon character and how a few easy adjustments can change the look of the face. Again, you should watch the video if you want to change your perspective on your ability to draw and learn a cool way to get started.
There is one very important line that Graham says at the start of the video, and this is the focus of today. He states, “When people say they cannot draw, I think it is more about beliefs than it is talent or ability.” Ask yourself right now, can I draw? The answer you all should have given was, yes. If I was to ask any of you to draw a circle, or a simple smiley face, the type of one that is usually drawn on car windows to pass the boredom of a long car ride, I believe you would be all able to do it. Therefore, you can draw! When we say that we cannot draw, we are saying so in a comparative sense. “I cannot draw” usually means “I cannot draw as well as (fill in someone’s name here).” Now, the statement, ‘I cannot draw as well as Rembrandt’ is not a negative or incorrect statement, it is just a statement of facts, but the statement, ‘I cannot draw’ is factually incorrect, in addition to being negative self-talk, and overall providing a statement of disbelief in one’s abilities. How does this relate to sports?
Over the past year, I have watched my two-and-a-half-year-old son Charlie become a fanatic about sports. Is it nature or nurture? Probably a lot of both, but whichever it is, he loves any game that involves throwing, kicking, or striking a ball. He loves to send his plastic vegetables flying all over our kitchen while telling us he is playing tennis. A few weeks ago, he began to lecture my wife about how she was throwing a football wrong (she was doing so in order to not hit him in the face when he was trying to catch it but he did not understand this.) Current sports he plays daily; Soccer, hockey, baseball, basketball, tennis, and golf. That doesn’t include random exercises and gymnastic movements he is doing throughout the day as well.
Now, regardless of the sport he and I are playing, he is always sure to tell anyone nearby what he is doing. If he’s throwing a football, he tells everyone he’s ‘playing football’. If he is walking around with a children’s tennis racket hitting random household items through the air, he’s ‘playing tennis’. If he is passing a plastic puck back and forth in our kitchen with a mini stick, he’s ‘playing hockey.’
If you view sports or drawing as black and white, you either play or you don’t, you can either draw or you cannot, then Charlie does not play sports. He does not know all the rules, he is not using the correct equipment, he doesn’t understand the intricacies of different strategies, formation, or techniques. What Charlie does have though, is belief. He has the belief that he can play those sports, and so he does. You could argue that he is not playing these sports because he isn’t following the correct rules but I will challenge this fact. The ‘correct’ rules change depending on how old you are, what league you play in, whether it is competitive or recreational. Do the different rules about the shot clock, gather-steps, the size of the basketball at all different levels and age groups mean that you are never playing basketball? The NBA and FIBA have different rules, this does not mean that one of them is not legitimate basketball. It is not the understanding of rules or the knowledge of correct techniques that allows Charlie to play sports. It is his belief that he can play, and the action that he takes from this belief.
How can we take this belief and apply it to ourselves? If you have ever told yourself that you cannot play sports, or cannot play one specific sport, you should challenge that belief. Do not let a comparison of your ability to the ability of someone you know, dictate your belief about whether or not you can play. If we all did this, no one would play. There can only be one G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) and if we base our ability to play in comparison to someone else, no one would ever play. So, in short, you can play a sport, you can play any sport.
I should throw in a disclaimer here that you MAY not enjoy the sport if you play with people who are high above your level. I love hockey but would not enjoy playing in the NHL. I would never touch the puck, would be embarrassed time and time again, and would probably be injured after the first few shifts.
Find people who are at or above your level and begin playing with them. If you are simply throwing a ball at a basketball hoop you are playing basketball. Worried about your technique being ‘bad’? Guess what? Most people that play have ‘bad’ technique - they just don’t realize it so their belief stays the same. If you want, find someone who will show you some basics of whatever sport you enjoy. Just like the TedTalk, playing sports becomes immensely more enjoyable and easy if someone shows you some basics and simple techniques (this is coming from someone who didn’t learn how to shoot a basketball until he was 24). Whatever it is that you do, don’t tell yourself that you cannot play. This is an incorrect statement. You can play, you just have to believe and then act on that belief.
Final thought: Apply this belief past sports - What other things do we tell ourselves we cannot do because we are comparing ourselves to other people. For me, it was drawing and playing music. I enjoy both but always said I couldn’t do either. I challenged that belief and started playing the guitar over the Christmas holidays. To walk the walk so to speak and to show you that you can also challenge your beliefs, here is a link to me playing Jingle Bells. I hope you are both amused and inspired! (Don’t worry, I will not quit my day job…yet)