Mindset QCC

1. "Bruce Jenner, 1976 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon says, 'If I wasn't dyslexic, I probably wouldn't have won the Games. If I had been a better reader, then that would have come easily, sports would have come easily... and I never would have realized that the way you get ahead in life is hard work.'

The naturals, carried away by their superiority, don't learn how to work hard or how to cope with setbacks."

2. This quote carries with it a deep understanding of work ethic, determination, and the origins of motivation. It shows that people who face adversity in their lives are more likely to overcome obstacles than those unhindered by personal weaknesses or setbacks, the "naturals". In many ways, a person's handicap can inspire them work harder in pursuit of a goal, and enables them to process failure with the mindset to get up and try again, rather than falling apart from being built up for so long as a naturally capable winner. It keeps them humble and shields them from the corrosive nature of their own ego, forces them to constantly better themselves and work to be the best, rather than simply accepting that they were born the best and waiting for the success to come.

3. I've faced my own setbacks in life that prevent me from being classified as a "natural". I have dyscalculia, which has hindered me in math my entire life. I was ridiculed and humiliated in school, sometimes by my own teachers, for being unable to comprehend basic mathematical reasoning beyond multiplication. I didn't realize it until I neared maturity, but that weakness in math had made me a better writer, and (on some level) a better person. Writing came naturally to me. That was my innate skill. But if math had come as easily to me as other students, I never would have been forced to focus more on the subjects that I could do, and even more so on the ones I was passionate about. I would've grown up to be a passable writer, enough to get good grades across the board, but I never would have gained the passion to develop my craft outside of school, to dedicate my life to the pursuit of becoming better and better at it. I simply would have been... good enough, just as I would be good enough at math. In fact, if I hadn't been brought down to earth by the shame of my severe academic shortcomings, I very likely would have ended up mocking those who struggled in English and creative writing. Knowing all this, I can honestly say that if I given a chance to go back and live my life over, with the ability to understand and retain math concepts at the same level as my classmates, to avoid humiliating displays of my ignorance at the front of the class, to never be mocked by students who considered themselves geniuses when compared to me, to never be shamed with trips to summer school where they taught me every subject on phonetic notecards like a brain damaged toddler, I would refuse.