There’s an incredible scene in the movie, Facing the Giants.
It takes place on a football field, after practice. The coach catches his star athlete, the leader of his team, talking pessimistically about their upcoming match against one of the better teams in the league.
This was the STAR athlete. His words, his feelings and his beliefs were being transmitted to the rest of the team, and it could not be allowed to stand if they were to have any hope of victory.
So the coach did something about it.
He called the kid out and challenged him to the death crawl. One of his teammates strapped himself to his back, his eyes were blindfolded, and he started to crawl up the field.
Now this drill wasn’t new to practice. They had all done it before, many times. And the athlete had a sense of what he was capable of. But without sight, he had no idea where that point was.
He started moving forward. And his coach was in his ear.
“Let’s go, Brock. Show me good effort.”
He kept moving forward. His coach was in his ear.
“You gotta keep moving. You gotta keep moving. Let’s go. Don’t quit.”
His legs started to hurt. The spotlight was on him. The whole team was watching. But his coach was in his ear. And he kept moving forward.
“Keep driving! Don’t quit until you got nothing left!”
Fatigue was coursing through his body but his coach was still in his ear. And he kept moving forward.
“DON’T QUIT! KEEP GOING! I WANT EVERYTHING YOU GOT!”
The whole team stood up in amazement but he kept moving. One hand forward, one foot forward over and over again. And his coach was in his ear, driving him the whole way, until he finally had no more to give.
He collapsed, and when he took off the blindfold, he was shocked. He made it all the way to the in-zone, much further than he had ever gone before.
And in that moment, he truly knew that he was capable of far more than he once believed.
I thought about that scene last night because I saw someone quit in class.
We were finishing up the night with a little plank work. Pretty light work, but about 40 seconds in, I saw someone completely quit. He abandoned the position and sat down on his butt.
I tried to bring him back and after a long moment he got back in position.
It didn’t last though.
Not long after, he quit again, but this time he did something even worst. He got up, walked off the mat and started getting changed.
Wow.
I came up in an environment where such behavior was unacceptable. And what’s worst is that he was in better shape than several people who stuck with it to the end.
I have no sympathy because quitting easily becomes a habit. If you do it on the mat, you’ll do it elsewhere.
But if you build up a resistance by smashing through obstacles over and over again on the mat, you will also reap benefits when it matters outside.
Don’t quit.