I enjoyed this Ben, and would agree that on the whole it makes great points. I agree completely that many people impose narratives upon themselves that prevent the achievement of their potential. But being of academic origins, I can’t help but notice questions that arise and I could not get this one out of my head without writing about it. Specifically, what is the properly nuanced advice?
What advice would you give to a teenager or young adult who is averse to exercise, because it just does not feel right to them? Should everyone just push through their perceived limits?
I had a friend who was a brilliant computer scientist but always felt averse to exercise. He finished a Ph.D. at Berkeley and went off to teach at a school in Ohio. But lecturing to classrooms of students, done well, is performance art. In involves both physical and emotional exertion. During a lecture in his second year, his heart exploded.
It turned out that the tissue confining and constraining his organs was congenitally weak, so that they all were enlarged. Had he pursued exertion sooner, he would have died sooner.
Hi Paul thank you for the kind words, scary about your friend.
I would say there are so many sports and physical activities, people aren’t going to enjoy all of them but if they try enough eventually they’ll find one they like. In often cases it’s more the people they do the activity with that will make it fun.
I had friends who couldn’t stand hockey because it was too competitive and violent but enjoyed tennis or say volleyball.
Expose children to a lot of activities and if you know they don’t necessarily love the competitive aspect, find a better suited environment.
Similar to people who find the very cardio heavy sports too difficult for them, they can try other ones that require less running for example.
I enjoyed this Ben, and would agree that on the whole it makes great points. I agree completely that many people impose narratives upon themselves that prevent the achievement of their potential. But being of academic origins, I can’t help but notice questions that arise and I could not get this one out of my head without writing about it. Specifically, what is the properly nuanced advice?
What advice would you give to a teenager or young adult who is averse to exercise, because it just does not feel right to them? Should everyone just push through their perceived limits?
I had a friend who was a brilliant computer scientist but always felt averse to exercise. He finished a Ph.D. at Berkeley and went off to teach at a school in Ohio. But lecturing to classrooms of students, done well, is performance art. In involves both physical and emotional exertion. During a lecture in his second year, his heart exploded.
It turned out that the tissue confining and constraining his organs was congenitally weak, so that they all were enlarged. Had he pursued exertion sooner, he would have died sooner.
Hi Paul thank you for the kind words, scary about your friend.
I would say there are so many sports and physical activities, people aren’t going to enjoy all of them but if they try enough eventually they’ll find one they like. In often cases it’s more the people they do the activity with that will make it fun.
I had friends who couldn’t stand hockey because it was too competitive and violent but enjoyed tennis or say volleyball.
Expose children to a lot of activities and if you know they don’t necessarily love the competitive aspect, find a better suited environment.
Similar to people who find the very cardio heavy sports too difficult for them, they can try other ones that require less running for example.
Golf vs tennis per se.