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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

That would take you 5 hours in driving and transition time.

The kid OP is referring to probably only did 2 sports at a time and none of them daily

How do you come up with 5 hours?

I guess you must be poor because you CAN practice and take private lessons for golf, tennis, and swimming at Westwood CC. If you live in McLean, it is only a 10 minutes drive.

The opposite of not being able to hack a country club membership is not poor, princess.

[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.

Meow!

Hey I know there are kids like this.
I have no shade for them
I run my own race and teach my kids that too. You won't hear us complaining,
But I'm not drooling over some kid who has been set up by his parents. Good for them.
Not my problem, but I see what they did.

What did the parents do?
Find the best sport programs, coaches, teams lessons and then provide the logistics and also got the kid to do the work.

What didn’t kid do?
Obeyed the parents, didn’t talk back, wasn’t a quitter, didn’t have school or athletics refusal, stayed out of trouble.

The kid/person also could be a natural athlete and intrinsically motivated.

But parents are the ones finding the programs and getting the kid there daily.

Most parents are too lazy to do that; many like to say, “oh the kid should pick it!”

Most kids are too lazy to do the work, and talk back to their parents.

Kudos to both that kid and his parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I could imagine my kid being like that if we pushed him more. As it is he swims at a high level, does very well in school, practices guitar (and dabbles in piano) daily because he likes it, works as a ref most weekends, golfs with friends when he can and still spends hours a day messing around on his phone or watching tv. If those hours were spent at golf and tennis lessons, and his early childhood was full of the same rather than playing in the neighborhood, I imagine he could be quite good at all those things. He’s naturally pretty smart and a good athlete and enjoys music. I think it’s part luck of draw and part pushy parents (which were not really).

Agree.

Seen this with my overachiever boss and her three overachiever kids, all scholar athletes and at different ivies. One went all in to hockey for decades and is at a bean pot school having a blast.

[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 kid is not a wealth output.

Tons of wealthy spoiled kids accomplish very little academically or athletically. Despite being offered fancy private lessons and tutors.

This is about attitude, work ethic, IQ, EQ, planning skilled and resources of the kid AND at least one of the parents.

It’s a joy to know people like this. Many are humble too.

[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.

Note it’s a lot of individual sports and activities mainly; the type that Southeast Asian and Chinese American families prefer. Along with the requisite daily studying and learning ahead models they like.

[Anonymous]

My son has a friend like that, though they only see each other in class and at lunch. He has never been allowed to attend a birthday party, or a card game, or come over and hang out, or attend a school dance, etc. His activities and schedules are strictly enforced by his parents. You are also never invited to join him at any of these activities because you'd distract him or slow him down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yep.

No one's perfect, but my kids each have a couple of friends who do, indeed, seem to be good at everything!

One thing I noticed when my kids were young. We are solidly middle class. I stayed home with the kids when they were in elementary school. They all learned how to swim slowly, over the course of a couple of summers, because I never pushed it. We were always at the town pool, and they stayed in the shallow end until they were ready to learn. Let's say age 6.

As we made friends with wealthier families, we'd get invited to a pool party, and all the kids were swimming like fish and diving proficiently. How? Well, a lot of them had gone to summer camps where swimming instruction was built in every day. And/or, I think a lot of wealthier parents were just a little more hard-core about it than I was. They had the kids in lessons at 4 so they would be good by age 6. That kind of thing does multiply across sports, music, academics ... a LITTLE more pushing, a LITTLE more resources devoted to various things.

It’s basically making your kid do something productive things between 3pm and 9pm.

That takes energy. Stay at home parents do this well, or else you’re drivers and tutors and caretakers, and help out 6pm onward. Also need to res each and find the best- best coach, best teacher, best program. That takes energy and discipline. Then you have to convince your kid to comply or make them. That takes energy.

Most parents don’t have that.

It’s way easier to say, let the kid play, or so rec team again down the road, or skip math club studying. Whatever!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Athletes are good at every sport.

Learning an instrument isn’t unusual.

It’s easier to become passable at a bunch of things than professional at one thing.

Absolute BS. A D1 football player can play recreational golf, but he will not be like a D1 golfer. A D1 tennis player can't play D1 football because he will get killed.

Learning an instrument or vocal cord isn't unusual, but to become good at it takes a lot of time and effort. Every boy wants to pickup the guitar to impress girls, but 99% of them are horrible at it.

My kid is more well rounded but still very athletic. He may not be a D1 recruit but he does play 3 varsity sports. He is also an amazing artist, loves history and political science and is a total STEM kid. He quit his instrument when he started high school.

I’m too lazy to look it up but many professional athletes played multiple sports. I know Patrick mahomes played baseball. Some other football players also ran track. If you are that superior of an athlete, that athlete could very well be better than most others.

We knew baseball player who started tennis late. He became a tennis pro. He said when he was in high school, he made the tennis team and just started loving it. He is good at many sports. I believe he said he played football and baseball when he was a kid.

[Anonymous]

My son is like this, good at everything he tries. 99th percentile in all subjects, Excellent chess player, perfect pitch, Rarely drop balls, Can draw anything, Learn languages easily, good writer and math and science come incredibly easy to him. He doesn’t actually have to work very hard at any of these things. He actually has a lot of downtime because he only does one sport. Like others said he has a drive that I don’t have. He’s always tinkering and trying new things Because it’s enjoyable for him. His father and I are really not particularly impressive people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

You can do anything if you lie enough.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_high_school_students_who_have_run_a_four-minute_mile

calculus in 9th grade is also suspicious.

I alumni interview at Blair. It’s not common but not unheard of, certain cultures tutor and study ahead in math and science. Or just accelerate or demand it from the schools. The kids themselves do to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Athletes are good at every sport.

Learning an instrument isn’t unusual.

It’s easier to become passable at a bunch of things than professional at one thing.

Absolute BS. A D1 football player can play recreational golf, but he will not be like a D1 golfer. A D1 tennis player can't play D1 football because he will get killed.

Learning an instrument or vocal cord isn't unusual, but to become good at it takes a lot of time and effort. Every boy wants to pickup the guitar to impress girls, but 99% of them are horrible at it.

My kid is more well rounded but still very athletic. He may not be a D1 recruit but he does play 3 varsity sports. He is also an amazing artist, loves history and political science and is a total STEM kid. He quit his instrument when he started high school.

I’m too lazy to look it up but many professional athletes played multiple sports. I know Patrick mahomes played baseball. Some other football players also ran track. If you are that superior of an athlete, that athlete could very well be better than most others.

We knew baseball player who started tennis late. He became a tennis pro. He said when he was in high school, he made the tennis team and just started loving it. He is good at many sports. I believe he said he played football and baseball when he was a kid.

Top team ball sport athletes are lethal if and when they switch to a competitive individual sport.

Check out Caitlyn clark competing and learning competitive golf if her off season.

Or that top Stanford WNBA woman who learned national beach volleyball in 12 mos at age 26.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

When do they have time to pet the dog, talk to their GF/BF, watch a sunset, bake brownies, play a board game, curl up with a good book, or just relax?

Grind culture is so dreary.

I couldn’t agree more. It sounds like this guy wasn’t given much time to just be a kid when he was younger and was told that everything he does has to be for the sake of achievement as opposed to strictly the enjoyment of it.

More concerning is eventually he’s going to attempt something and either fail or simply not be the best at it, and that could be completely devastating to him since he’s never experienced not excelling. I’ve know people like this, and their first experience with failure is much more extreme than most others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Check out Caitlyn clark competing and learning competitive golf if her off season.

Pump the break. Caitlyn would lose BIG to a D1 University of Virginia golfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My kid is more well rounded but still very athletic. He may not be a D1 recruit but he does play 3 varsity sports. He is also an amazing artist, loves history and political science and is a total STEM kid. He quit his instrument when he started high school.

I’m too lazy to look it up but many professional athletes played multiple sports. I know Patrick mahomes played baseball. Some other football players also ran track. If you are that superior of an athlete, that athlete could very well be better than most others.

We knew baseball player who started tennis late. He became a tennis pro. He said when he was in high school, he made the tennis team and just started loving it. He is good at many sports. I believe he said he played football and baseball when he was a kid.

He is NOT well rounded when he quit his instrument when he started HS.