One of the first awards I can ever remember winning as a kid is the Perfect Attendance award. This is the award a kid receives from their school at the end of the school year as an honor for being present every day of school during that year.
Initially, if it were up to me, I would have never gotten that award. There were days that I did not want to go to school and would rather stay home and play video games . There were days where I felt under the weather and felt as if I shouldn’t go to school. On those days, my mom would still make me go to school. She would tell me the importance of going to school everyday and how my ancestors sacrificed a lot just for me to be able to go to school. I couldn’t miss school for being sick unless I had a fever of like 100 F or higher. My mom would tell me I could not fake sick, cause one day I really will be sick, and I need to save my “sick days” for when I really am.
After a while I wanted to go to school everyday. I loved the gratification of getting that perfect attendance award at the end of the year. It also showed me what is possible when you really commit to something. Not only did I get the award, I would also receive every daily lesson of education at school. My perfect attendance reflected on my grades and intelligence. It also reflected on my drive.
My mom wasn’t just teaching me to go to school everyday, she was teaching me how to be consistent and how to finish what I started. She was teaching me how to do things even if I did not feel like it. Those are the same traits that helped me graduate from college and even helped me excel in sports. It’s a mindset.
In football, you often hear the saying “ the best ability is availability”. I knew I could beat players out for the starting job because I knew that I would show up everyday. Something as simple as that can separate you from others. I never missed workouts. I never missed practice. And for the most part in college, I never missed classes . That “perfect attendance” mentality is what kept me self-driven. I think it should be apart of everyone’s mentality. That is probably why in college your attendance is part of your grade.
I know people who flunked out of school because of their attendance. I know people who got fired from their job because they missed too many days. They might call in “sick” when they really aren’t sick. They might miss school because they just don’t feel like it. I believe these bad habits are formed as a kid. Like a coach would always say to us; it’s either coached, or allowed.
A parent is either coaching their kid to miss school often as a kid, or they are allowing it. My mom did not coach or allow it. In return she instilled the importance of showing up daily, being responsible, being consistent, and really just getting the most that I can get out of whatever endeavor that I choose to pursue.
No matter what you do, rather it’s school, work, or your goals and aspirations, you have to show up everyday. Because there is someone out there with the same goals and objectives as you, who will. The one who can show up everyday will be the one who is successful.
Learn and practice showing up every day and watch how it positively impacts your life.
FLY, BLACK BOY 