How can a kid be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

[Anonymous]

DD is like this. She has an internal drive. I can set her up for things but she goes out and practices two sports every.single.day. She also practices an instrument and has other activities. She is an 4.5 student.

My other DC are not wired this way. They have the same opportunities, but strive less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 22-year-old recently grad started his job yesterday in accounting/finance, and he reports directly to me. We had lunch and a long conversation while he was waiting for access to the system. According to this young man, his childhood was always busy with activities. His parents made him practice piano, guitar, swimming, soccer, golf, and tennis everyday. He was also a very good student on top of those activities. He even showed me some of those activities that his parents captured on YouTube, and he looked excellent. He ended up at a very good college, and played sport there. His social life also improved because of the activities that he acquired in his teen years. I came away very impressed by this young man, and I would not be surprised that he will be my boss a few years from now.

All of this brings up my question: How can someone be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

What! practice all of those things every day?
That was a choice made by the parents early on (with no input from him) and they had the resources to provide that to him. Because really it's not just a matter of lessons. If my kids wanted to play tennis everyday, they would have to head to the neighborhood court, and golfing (which they do a little of) would be even harder to schedule everyday. You are unduly impressed by a kid from a very wealthy family. Of course he would be impressive. Sounds like he started life half way between 3rd and home.

+1

Wealthy people can also get rid of every little bit of friction that a normal person has to deal with on a daily basis. They can outsource any activity (cleaning, organizing, purchasing needed items -- they can even outsource the coordination of these outsourced services to a household manager or assistant) that does not perfectly optimize their time.

This kid was raised the way Jeff Bezos currently lives his life, with an army of staff and plenty of resources to ensure that each waking moment can be as productive as possible. But it's relevant that Bezos actually had to work to get to that point and this kid was just born into it, like royalty.

Without obstacles anything is possible. Most people deal with obstacles. I wonder what might happen if this kid encounters an obstacle that cannot be easily resolved with money and privilege. A relationship failure or a dire medical issue.

This is such an odd thread. OP didn't describe someone who sounds ultra wealthy at all. And what teen needs outsourcing in order to do activities? Teens have plenty of time after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 22-year-old recently grad started his job yesterday in accounting/finance, and he reports directly to me. We had lunch and a long conversation while he was waiting for access to the system. According to this young man, his childhood was always busy with activities. His parents made him practice piano, guitar, swimming, soccer, golf, and tennis everyday. He was also a very good student on top of those activities. He even showed me some of those activities that his parents captured on YouTube, and he looked excellent. He ended up at a very good college, and played sport there. His social life also improved because of the activities that he acquired in his teen years. I came away very impressed by this young man, and I would not be surprised that he will be my boss a few years from now.

All of this brings up my question: How can someone be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

What! practice all of those things every day?
That was a choice made by the parents early on (with no input from him) and they had the resources to provide that to him. Because really it's not just a matter of lessons. If my kids wanted to play tennis everyday, they would have to head to the neighborhood court, and golfing (which they do a little of) would be even harder to schedule everyday. You are unduly impressed by a kid from a very wealthy family. Of course he would be impressive. Sounds like he started life half way between 3rd and home.

+1

Wealthy people can also get rid of every little bit of friction that a normal person has to deal with on a daily basis. They can outsource any activity (cleaning, organizing, purchasing needed items -- they can even outsource the coordination of these outsourced services to a household manager or assistant) that does not perfectly optimize their time.

This kid was raised the way Jeff Bezos currently lives his life, with an army of staff and plenty of resources to ensure that each waking moment can be as productive as possible. But it's relevant that Bezos actually had to work to get to that point and this kid was just born into it, like royalty.

Without obstacles anything is possible. Most people deal with obstacles. I wonder what might happen if this kid encounters an obstacle that cannot be easily resolved with money and privilege. A relationship failure or a dire medical issue.

This is such an odd thread. OP didn't describe someone who sounds ultra wealthy at all. And what teen needs outsourcing in order to do activities? Teens have plenty of time after school.

She really did.
You just missed the clues.
All those activities everyday? Maybe she was exaggerating that he played golf and tennis every day. If so, fine I agree.
But if not, yes, they were wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 22-year-old recently grad started his job yesterday in accounting/finance, and he reports directly to me. We had lunch and a long conversation while he was waiting for access to the system. According to this young man, his childhood was always busy with activities. His parents made him practice piano, guitar, swimming, soccer, golf, and tennis everyday. He was also a very good student on top of those activities. He even showed me some of those activities that his parents captured on YouTube, and he looked excellent. He ended up at a very good college, and played sport there. His social life also improved because of the activities that he acquired in his teen years. I came away very impressed by this young man, and I would not be surprised that he will be my boss a few years from now.

All of this brings up my question: How can someone be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

What! practice all of those things every day?
That was a choice made by the parents early on (with no input from him) and they had the resources to provide that to him. Because really it's not just a matter of lessons. If my kids wanted to play tennis everyday, they would have to head to the neighborhood court, and golfing (which they do a little of) would be even harder to schedule everyday. You are unduly impressed by a kid from a very wealthy family. Of course he would be impressive. Sounds like he started life half way between 3rd and home.

+1

Wealthy people can also get rid of every little bit of friction that a normal person has to deal with on a daily basis. They can outsource any activity (cleaning, organizing, purchasing needed items -- they can even outsource the coordination of these outsourced services to a household manager or assistant) that does not perfectly optimize their time.

This kid was raised the way Jeff Bezos currently lives his life, with an army of staff and plenty of resources to ensure that each waking moment can be as productive as possible. But it's relevant that Bezos actually had to work to get to that point and this kid was just born into it, like royalty.

Without obstacles anything is possible. Most people deal with obstacles. I wonder what might happen if this kid encounters an obstacle that cannot be easily resolved with money and privilege. A relationship failure or a dire medical issue.

This is such an odd thread. OP didn't describe someone who sounds ultra wealthy at all. And what teen needs outsourcing in order to do activities? Teens have plenty of time after school.

She really did.
You just missed the clues.
All those activities everyday? Maybe she was exaggerating that he played golf and tennis every day. If so, fine I agree.
But if not, yes, they were wealthy.

Obviously she/he is exaggerating. I took that to mean several times a week, he did every activity (aside from piano which can be done every day).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 22-year-old recently grad started his job yesterday in accounting/finance, and he reports directly to me. We had lunch and a long conversation while he was waiting for access to the system. According to this young man, his childhood was always busy with activities. His parents made him practice piano, guitar, swimming, soccer, golf, and tennis everyday. He was also a very good student on top of those activities. He even showed me some of those activities that his parents captured on YouTube, and he looked excellent. He ended up at a very good college, and played sport there. His social life also improved because of the activities that he acquired in his teen years. I came away very impressed by this young man, and I would not be surprised that he will be my boss a few years from now.

All of this brings up my question: How can someone be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

What! practice all of those things every day?
That was a choice made by the parents early on (with no input from him) and they had the resources to provide that to him. Because really it's not just a matter of lessons. If my kids wanted to play tennis everyday, they would have to head to the neighborhood court, and golfing (which they do a little of) would be even harder to schedule everyday. You are unduly impressed by a kid from a very wealthy family. Of course he would be impressive. Sounds like he started life half way between 3rd and home.

+1

Wealthy people can also get rid of every little bit of friction that a normal person has to deal with on a daily basis. They can outsource any activity (cleaning, organizing, purchasing needed items -- they can even outsource the coordination of these outsourced services to a household manager or assistant) that does not perfectly optimize their time.

This kid was raised the way Jeff Bezos currently lives his life, with an army of staff and plenty of resources to ensure that each waking moment can be as productive as possible. But it's relevant that Bezos actually had to work to get to that point and this kid was just born into it, like royalty.

Without obstacles anything is possible. Most people deal with obstacles. I wonder what might happen if this kid encounters an obstacle that cannot be easily resolved with money and privilege. A relationship failure or a dire medical issue.

This is such an odd thread. OP didn't describe someone who sounds ultra wealthy at all. And what teen needs outsourcing in order to do activities? Teens have plenty of time after school.

She really did.
You just missed the clues.
All those activities everyday? Maybe she was exaggerating that he played golf and tennis every day. If so, fine I agree.
But if not, yes, they were wealthy.

By wealthy, you mean MC/UMC, which is the majority of Americans. Knock it off with your silly "privilege" bashing when you're talking about regular Americans.

[Anonymous]

I make one of my kids do soccer drills for 10-15 minutes every day he does not have soccer practice or a game. I make my 5th grader practice trumpet for 15 min every day he doesn’t have band at school. It doesn’t take much time, if done consistently, to make a big improvement. As they get older, my hope is that they will organically practice on a regular basis because they care and want to improve.

Once my kids were old enough to walk home from school, we pulled them from aftercare. It has been amazing to see what they can accomplish with an extra 60-90 minutes a day before sports or other activities. They have 15 min of chores, 15 min of an assigned activity, and 15 min of homework or reading we assign them because their school doesn’t have homework. They can choose to do it before or after school and the rest of the time is theirs. At first it was a battle to get them to do it, but after 6-8 weeks I found that once they start reading, practicing an instrument, or doing drills for their sports that they often don’t stop when the timer ends because they enjoy what they are working on.

I doubt that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 22-year-old recently grad started his job yesterday in accounting/finance, and he reports directly to me. We had lunch and a long conversation while he was waiting for access to the system. According to this young man, his childhood was always busy with activities. His parents made him practice piano, guitar, swimming, soccer, golf, and tennis everyday. He was also a very good student on top of those activities. He even showed me some of those activities that his parents captured on YouTube, and he looked excellent. He ended up at a very good college, and played sport there. His social life also improved because of the activities that he acquired in his teen years. I came away very impressed by this young man, and I would not be surprised that he will be my boss a few years from now.

All of this brings up my question: How can someone be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

What! practice all of those things every day?
That was a choice made by the parents early on (with no input from him) and they had the resources to provide that to him. Because really it's not just a matter of lessons. If my kids wanted to play tennis everyday, they would have to head to the neighborhood court, and golfing (which they do a little of) would be even harder to schedule everyday. You are unduly impressed by a kid from a very wealthy family. Of course he would be impressive. Sounds like he started life half way between 3rd and home.

+1

Wealthy people can also get rid of every little bit of friction that a normal person has to deal with on a daily basis. They can outsource any activity (cleaning, organizing, purchasing needed items -- they can even outsource the coordination of these outsourced services to a household manager or assistant) that does not perfectly optimize their time.

This kid was raised the way Jeff Bezos currently lives his life, with an army of staff and plenty of resources to ensure that each waking moment can be as productive as possible. But it's relevant that Bezos actually had to work to get to that point and this kid was just born into it, like royalty.

Without obstacles anything is possible. Most people deal with obstacles. I wonder what might happen if this kid encounters an obstacle that cannot be easily resolved with money and privilege. A relationship failure or a dire medical issue.

This is such an odd thread. OP didn't describe someone who sounds ultra wealthy at all. And what teen needs outsourcing in order to do activities? Teens have plenty of time after school.

She really did.
You just missed the clues.
All those activities everyday? Maybe she was exaggerating that he played golf and tennis every day. If so, fine I agree.
But if not, yes, they were wealthy.

By wealthy, you mean MC/UMC, which is the majority of Americans. Knock it off with your silly "privilege" bashing when you're talking about regular Americans.

Hoo boy!
Sure, a majority of regular Americans... Statistics doesn't seem to be your specialty. But I'll leave you alone.
Wouldn't want to bruise your feelings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 22-year-old recently grad started his job yesterday in accounting/finance, and he reports directly to me. We had lunch and a long conversation while he was waiting for access to the system. According to this young man, his childhood was always busy with activities. His parents made him practice piano, guitar, swimming, soccer, golf, and tennis everyday. He was also a very good student on top of those activities. He even showed me some of those activities that his parents captured on YouTube, and he looked excellent. He ended up at a very good college, and played sport there. His social life also improved because of the activities that he acquired in his teen years. I came away very impressed by this young man, and I would not be surprised that he will be my boss a few years from now.

All of this brings up my question: How can someone be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

What! practice all of those things every day?
That was a choice made by the parents early on (with no input from him) and they had the resources to provide that to him. Because really it's not just a matter of lessons. If my kids wanted to play tennis everyday, they would have to head to the neighborhood court, and golfing (which they do a little of) would be even harder to schedule everyday. You are unduly impressed by a kid from a very wealthy family. Of course he would be impressive. Sounds like he started life half way between 3rd and home.

+1

Wealthy people can also get rid of every little bit of friction that a normal person has to deal with on a daily basis. They can outsource any activity (cleaning, organizing, purchasing needed items -- they can even outsource the coordination of these outsourced services to a household manager or assistant) that does not perfectly optimize their time.

This kid was raised the way Jeff Bezos currently lives his life, with an army of staff and plenty of resources to ensure that each waking moment can be as productive as possible. But it's relevant that Bezos actually had to work to get to that point and this kid was just born into it, like royalty.

Without obstacles anything is possible. Most people deal with obstacles. I wonder what might happen if this kid encounters an obstacle that cannot be easily resolved with money and privilege. A relationship failure or a dire medical issue.

This is such an odd thread. OP didn't describe someone who sounds ultra wealthy at all. And what teen needs outsourcing in order to do activities? Teens have plenty of time after school.

She really did.
You just missed the clues.
All those activities everyday? Maybe she was exaggerating that he played golf and tennis every day. If so, fine I agree.
But if not, yes, they were wealthy.

By wealthy, you mean MC/UMC, which is the majority of Americans. Knock it off with your silly "privilege" bashing when you're talking about regular Americans.

Hoo boy!
Sure, a majority of regular Americans... Statistics doesn't seem to be your specialty. But I'll leave you alone.
Wouldn't want to bruise your feelings

https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2024/05/31/the-state-of-the-american-middle-class/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 22-year-old recently grad started his job yesterday in accounting/finance, and he reports directly to me. We had lunch and a long conversation while he was waiting for access to the system. According to this young man, his childhood was always busy with activities. His parents made him practice piano, guitar, swimming, soccer, golf, and tennis everyday. He was also a very good student on top of those activities. He even showed me some of those activities that his parents captured on YouTube, and he looked excellent. He ended up at a very good college, and played sport there. His social life also improved because of the activities that he acquired in his teen years. I came away very impressed by this young man, and I would not be surprised that he will be my boss a few years from now.

All of this brings up my question: How can someone be so good at so many activities with a limited amount of time?

What! practice all of those things every day?
That was a choice made by the parents early on (with no input from him) and they had the resources to provide that to him. Because really it's not just a matter of lessons. If my kids wanted to play tennis everyday, they would have to head to the neighborhood court, and golfing (which they do a little of) would be even harder to schedule everyday. You are unduly impressed by a kid from a very wealthy family. Of course he would be impressive. Sounds like he started life half way between 3rd and home.

+1

Wealthy people can also get rid of every little bit of friction that a normal person has to deal with on a daily basis. They can outsource any activity (cleaning, organizing, purchasing needed items -- they can even outsource the coordination of these outsourced services to a household manager or assistant) that does not perfectly optimize their time.

This kid was raised the way Jeff Bezos currently lives his life, with an army of staff and plenty of resources to ensure that each waking moment can be as productive as possible. But it's relevant that Bezos actually had to work to get to that point and this kid was just born into it, like royalty.

Without obstacles anything is possible. Most people deal with obstacles. I wonder what might happen if this kid encounters an obstacle that cannot be easily resolved with money and privilege. A relationship failure or a dire medical issue.

This is such an odd thread. OP didn't describe someone who sounds ultra wealthy at all. And what teen needs outsourcing in order to do activities? Teens have plenty of time after school.

She really did.
You just missed the clues.
All those activities everyday? Maybe she was exaggerating that he played golf and tennis every day. If so, fine I agree.
But if not, yes, they were wealthy.

By wealthy, you mean MC/UMC, which is the majority of Americans. Knock it off with your silly "privilege" bashing when you're talking about regular Americans.

Hoo boy!
Sure, a majority of regular Americans... Statistics doesn't seem to be your specialty. But I'll leave you alone.
Wouldn't want to bruise your feelings

https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2024/05/31/the-state-of-the-american-middle-class/

What's you point?
That a majority of Americans are middle class?
I love how you slapped together MC along with UMC. No, no one who is really middle class ( by your data) not just DCUM middle, is signing up their kid(s) for all those activities from a young age to 18. True middle has to pick and choose.

[Anonymous]

- Play guitar 45 minutes every day. Definitely doable,
- Play piano 45 minutes every day. Definitely doable,
- Practice tennis one hour every day. Definitely doable
- Practice golf one hour every day. Definitely doable,
- Swimming one hour every day. Definitely doable,
- Play an 18-hole round of golf (3 1/2 hours) and 2 hours of tennis on Saturday. Definitely doable,
- Practice two hours of guitar and piano on Sunday. Definitely doable,

High school ends at 3pm, and it takes 20 minutes to get to Westwood CC in Vienna. Take three hours to practice golf, tennis, swimming. Get home at 6:30pm, and have dinner at 7pm. Practice piano and guitar from 7:30pm until 9pm. Homework from 9pm until 11pm. Go to bed at 11pm and wake up at 7am. Rinse and repeat.

The question is how many kids can actually do this for years in order to be good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- Play guitar 45 minutes every day. Definitely doable,
- Play piano 45 minutes every day. Definitely doable,
- Practice tennis one hour every day. Definitely doable
- Practice golf one hour every day. Definitely doable,
- Swimming one hour every day. Definitely doable,
- Play an 18-hole round of golf (3 1/2 hours) and 2 hours of tennis on Saturday. Definitely doable,
- Practice two hours of guitar and piano on Sunday. Definitely doable,

High school ends at 3pm, and it takes 20 minutes to get to Westwood CC in Vienna. Take three hours to practice golf, tennis, swimming. Get home at 6:30pm, and have dinner at 7pm. Practice piano and guitar from 7:30pm until 9pm. Homework from 9pm until 11pm. Go to bed at 11pm and wake up at 7am. Rinse and repeat.

The question is how many kids can actually do this for years in order to be good?

Your child must be gifted or has no intention of taking BC calc, AP Chem, and AP Lit in the same year. Ah, but I forget, tutors, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Their parents don’t let them play video games. That’s how. There’s a lot of time during the day if you aren’t on a screen

+1


Also:

SOCIAL MEDIA IS TOXIC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Their parents don’t let them play video games. That’s how. There’s a lot of time during the day if you aren’t on a screen

+1


Also:

SOCIAL MEDIA IS TOXIC

It is, but so is overscheduling.

[Anonymous]

Practicing a sport could have been 20 minutes in the back yard hitting gold balls into a net or putting around the yard. Tennis practice could be hitting a ball against the garage door or at the local court for 20-30 minutes. Not all practice is hours long, drills that help develop footwork or specific skills can be done pretty quickly.

School work doesn’t have to be an hours long activity. An individual who is smart and has good study skills can probably knock out most high school work and college work reasonably quickly. There are kids who take hours to do homework, they tend to be kids that have to work harder to get good grades for some reason. DS is only in MS but he has maybe 15 minutes of homework a day and his friends have hours. His friends struggle with anxiety and ADHD so focus is an issue and makes homework harder for them than it is for my NT child.

I wouldn’t trust videos to show how good a child is at anything, they are pretty easy to edit. I am sure that he is probably pretty good at the sports he played but videos do not tell the whole story.

I find it odd that he was showing you videos his parents took. It sounds like he has been indoctrinated with the idea that he has to be good at everything and he has to continually sell himself to people. Hopefully he is able to out grow that.

[Anonymous]

Some humans are just really impressive.

My kids go to a top private (not in DC) and there are a few there who are just insanely impressive. They are national merit semifinalists, have perfect SAT scores (1600) took calculus in 9th grade, run a 4 minute mile and are team captains for another sport. Plus they're artistic, kind, funny, good looking and completely solid on a mental health level.

It's not my kids (at all) but they exist.