Last week I had the honor of hosting our 5th annual Rowathon at my son’s school.
Each year I get the chance to watch hundreds of kids from TK–8th push (or not push) on the rower. I’m always a little nervous the night before. Are we being creative enough? Will the kids be bored? Will this be too hard and they complain?
I hear a lot of people say that kids are soft, weak, and don’t work as hard as they used to. That may or may not be true. Either way, I believe we can adjust that narrative. Over the last five years, I’ve watched these kids get more engaged, push themselves harder, and actually look forward to beating their previous records.
This year in particular, I was blown away by the effort. In situations where kids could have coasted, I didn’t see a single one do it. When I thought they might get bored, they pushed and competed.
I believe kids want to see what they’re capable of. They feel better when they accomplish hard things. And it’s on us to keep creating opportunities that encourage that.
The takeaway:
Watching it all play out again this year, it made me think:
Maybe kids aren’t as "soft" nowadays as we say they are.
Maybe they’ve just never been given a real opportunity to push, or haven’t been shown what that actually looks like.
Because when you give them the chance, when you put something in front of them that’s hard but doable, they don’t shy away from it.
They lean in.
And most of the time, they end up surprising themselves.
The best way I’ve found is by showing, not telling.
Kids don’t listen to what we say nearly as much as they watch what we do.
If they see you choose the easy path, they’ll follow that.
If they see you avoid hard things, they’ll learn that too.
But if they see you show up, put in effort, and do things that challenge you… that sticks. That’s where the standard actually gets set.
It’s why my son has started joining me in the mornings. No one’s making him do it. He just wants to be a part of it. He’ll jump in, do what he can, and be around it.
If you want to set that example in your own life, start with something simple and consistent. Training alongside me each day inside the app is a great place to start. You can start a free trial here.
The goal isn’t to force it. It’s to live it in a way that other people want to be a part of. That’s how it spreads. That’s how it sticks. That’s how you actually make an impact.
Keep training hard.
- Jason
