(Excerpt from a discussion with a friend about a young talented kid who fears to try new challenges)
Fear being mostly fear of failure.
Teach him that failure is something part of the process of getting better.
If you fail, it is good because you tried.
You learn more from failure than you do from success.
Use the sport to teach him this. You can voluntarily fail in front of him, let him see it means nothing and explain that failure also makes you better, eventually.
If you do not try and fail, you will never achieve anything.
This is one of the most important life’s lesson you can teach your kid.
Originally posted on Facebook, January 2013
Martin Pham Dinh 