I know I am not the only one out there who loves them. Those old “Rocky” movies still bring a tear to my eye. I still get misty every time Balboa goes into round 14 and Apollo Creed ducks his head in disbelief. There he stands at the end of the match calling only for his beloved, having done the imposable. He stood toe to toe with the champ. The underdog made good. It is the American story. But… Why does it now leave a bitter taste in my mouth? I think that it is because our we as individuals, our society and our schools have become infected with the Rocky Syndrome, the great love the underdog story.
We have all seen those movies about a has been, never was, or perpetual loser beating the odds and obtaining their goal. The movie inevitably closes on them arms raised in victory and the bad guy giving them the slow clap of approval. It is inspiring. These moves make you feel you can go out and tackle the world. You can run ten miles or win the championship. We can conquer the world, until we start the process. That is when reality sets in and we get smacked square in the mouth.
History is filed with these stories of the underdog overcoming odds. Heck, its biblical in the story of David and Goliath. It illustrates to al of us that victory is possible for everyone. All we need to do is want it bad enough and the great win can happen. Everyone can be a champion if we want it bad enough. Those stories make everyone common person special. We all have the potential to be the world champion, the teacher of the year, or a nationally acclaimed author. The problem is how we perceive we get there.
The reality is that there is a reason these stories are special to our society. It is because these great underdog stories rarely happen in reality. The truth is all the hope in the world will not get you to where you want until you put foot to backside. We skipped the important parts of that Rocky story. We want it fast. We want it easy. We want it now!
I remember like it was yesterday. I was in my classroom and two of my fellow teachers came back on a Tuesday from a half marathon. At that point I had never run more than a mile and I spent all of lunch asking them about their experience. I was fascinated. I couldn’t wait to hear about their race. They talked about how great it was and the difficult nature of the race. I sheepishly mentioned that I would like to do one also and was met with laughter. They told me that I would need to train and run warm up races to get to that point. It may have had to do with the extra 50 lbs I was carrying at the time. Dejected and embarrassed, I went back to my room and stewed over their comments.
I wish I could say that the music hit and five minutes later I was at the starting line of my first half marathon. The reality is it took a year of sulking and soul searching. At that time in my life, I needed an escape and running fit the mold. I ran almost every day, very slowly. It took time and a lot of patience. I ran a few 5k’s and saw how out of shape I was. I would run more and more with the idea that I may not be fast but I was too damn stubborn to stop.
After about a year, I did line up for my first half marathon. If this was a movie, I would tell you about how I came from behind and won the entire race. But, this is the real world and I finished with a 2hrs 15min time. That isn’t terrible but is about an hour from winning. For me, finishing was the victory. The problem is I wanted more.
There is very popular belief in racing that almost 70%-80% of marathon runners and Ironman racers quit after they complete their first race. They finish their race, accomplish their goal, and move on. The women that I worked with never ran another half marathon, which is a shame. I still love running those races and occasionally joke with my wife about the “short” nature of the race. She rolls her eyes when I say,” It’s only a half.” I won’t stop running them because there was a change within me. I need to run those races now.
I tell you that story not because I was an underdog. To complete that task I had to put in the time for that distance. I spent hours upon hours running and training. I monitored my diet and ate as clean as possible. I lived racing every day to the border line of obsession. The reality is, I reaped the rewards of hard work. I could go out and race about every weekend and feel great afterwards.
When I would take a break from training and my diet. I always found that first race back I would get my teeth kicked in. This past year I ran “just a half” with zero training and found myself puking after I finished. I made sure to hide so people could see me in that state. The fact is I got exactly what I had earned. I hadn’t put the time in and suffered because of it. No amount of hoping will change that.
In schools, leaders and teachers often rely on hope. They hope that things will get better. They believe that if they want to be good at what they do they will excel. Some even become delusional thinking they have unlocked the code to teaching with out cracking a book in the last ten years. I admit I have done that. I have been the guy who prayed for change and waited for it to magically happen. I was infected the dreaded Rocky syndrome.
So what are those perpetual underdog minded missing and need to consider?
Don’t overlook the training montage.
Those Rocky movies were the best at this part. The movie would flash a fury of clips set to high intensity music of Rocky doing feats of strength. In the movies run time, this only lasted a few minutes. In real time, this clip represents weeks and weeks of work. He had to get the work in to be successful. Countless hours were spent in the gym. Hundreds of miles were run. He prepared to be that good and invested his time in his success.
We all see these stories of the underdog and feel inspired at the ending. I have started to become inspired by the work that goes into the ending. This is where the growth happen and where we really learn. If you have a school goal, you have to be willing to put the work in to it. You have to invest you time to improve you craft. If you succeed and haven’t done the work, it is a fluke. You most likely could do it again. The ones the raise their game will be able to be successful over and over again.
GRIT is a great thing but is overrated.
I love hard nosed people. Those that just love to get into the work. Modern writers use the term grit to describe those who never give up or back down. This quality can help you to achieve your goals or can get your face smashed in. I have had mine figuratively and literally beat in a few time because I thought I could “gut it out “a problem. I went into more than a few situations underprepared and over my head. Grit will help but it won’t win the day most of the time.
If you consider yourself to be a gritty person, don’t allow yourself to rely on that as your only attribute. Learn other things and hone your craft to be come a better teacher or leader. Read and study things that will make you days easier and will benefit kids. Learn how to implement change without just pushing forward to everyone’s detriment. Let grit be the ace up your sleeve for when you need that little push over the top, instead of your defining characteristic.
Victory may look different than winning.
SAY WHAT???!!!
Most people assume that victory and winning are the exact same thing but I assure you they can be very different. I will go back to Rocky. In the first movie, people often forget that he lost the fight against the champ. He had told people all he want to do was go the distance, every round, with Apollo. In the end he had achieved his goal even in his defeat.
Many times in schools we use test scores to assess if we are “winning” with students. Those numbers are thrown around and dug at nauseum. I ask you, “what happens when your kids didn’t meet the expected test result?” The fact that students didn’t meet your expectation does not discount the amount of work and learning that have taken place. Think about how those students have grown and what they really know. For some students, victory may be coming to school each day. Victory may be learning to read fluently when have been behind in ELA for years. Victory may be staying out of trouble for a week. These students may not “win” at test taking but their victories will likely make them better individuals. As an educator, I would rather have a classful of C students that work hard and learn as much as they can over the course of a year, than a class full of lucky test takers.
Underdog stories are wonderful and can inspire people to do new things. I will always love to read the stories and watch movies based on them. Now, I experience them in a different way. I am always mindful of what makes these stories special is that they rarely occur. In most cases, the underdog is only victorious after the have a change within. My advice to all the underdogs is to focus on the change and not the victory. That change can be within yourself or your school. Victory is often fleeting but authentic change will endure.
Back to business next week with- Back to the basics! (When you have to go back to square one.)
Stay Sharp
Dr.S