kindergarten teacher gathered us all
around and she told us the most
inspiring thing that I had ever heard in
all my five years of existence
she sat us down and she said kids you
can grow up to become anything you want
anything man with a choice of anything I
knew exactly who I was going to become I
was gonna become my childhood hero I was
gonna do what he does
fight for what’s right defend the weak
live with honoring honor and integrity
and be a leader that’s right as a kid I
knew that I was gonna grow up to become
Optimus Prime leader of the Transformers
my eyes are open that day I could not
wait to grow up and so later that day
when I went out to the playground and
some bullies pushed me down in the mud I
just looked at him and I said hey just
you wait because when I grow up I’m
gonna deal with you and if I don’t get
you my buddy Brian will because he’s
gonna grow up to become Batman and now
here I am I’m grown I’ve got kids of my
own and so you can imagine my
disappointment
it is obvious a parent that miss Weaver
lied to us she made it sound like you
just get older and then magically become
whoever you want to be and we all know
that’s not the case I think that her
heart was good though I don’t think she
was trying to lie to us I think she just
forgot to tell us the most important
part she forgot to tell us how and so
the question now is what should we tell
kids about who they can be and what it
means to pursue a dream now I’m a high
school teacher and coach and I have a
unique perspective because from that
perspective I get to meet these kids
these little seventh-grade kids you know
that period of time when their backpacks
are still bigger than their torso and I
get to watch them grow and become
18-year old men and women leaving home
going out to conquer
the world and in that time I’ve seen
some very special and amazing things
I’ve seen some incredible growth and so
there are really two things that I tell
kids about who they can grow up to be
and what it means to pursue a dream the
first thing I tell them is that great
things are possible but it is a process
and the second thing I tell them is that
dreams in and of themselves have value
whether you accomplish them or not so
for example there was a kid that I
coached his name was Ricky fan Troy he
came in he was just a little guy a
freshman when I met him and he wanted to
be a great triple jumper I was coaching
track one of the sports that I was
coaching and and he thought that he was
the next big thing he had no reason to
really believe that but he did and I was
okay with him believing that because I
knew that if he was willing to embrace
the process great things would happen
and he was and he did he loved the
process every day waking up working hard
getting better improving your skills
sharpening the blades as I like to call
it and so we started practicing in a
very unique way researcher Anders
Ericsson he is a scientist in the study
of expertise and he also wrote the book
peak and in that study he’s found that
great performers expert performance
practices in a very specific way and so
we set out to do that I think oftentimes
people get caught up in this idea of oh
it’s simple you just it’s just hard work
you just sleep less and you work more
and you lift more weights and you run
faster and you do all these things and
that’s what leads to great performance
and that’s not the case it is a special
type of practice which is even harder
than hard work because it requires
research and studying that’s what that’s
what we did I set out Ricky and I we set
out to study muscular development
biomechanics we filmed his techniques
and every day at practice we would come
out to practice intentionally
deliberately with something that we knew
we are going to fix that day we’d say
hey today we’re going to work on the
second step we’re going to make that
perfect and in doing that he saw some in
credible results now it did not happen
all at once I like to make sure the kids
know this is that Ricky spent a year
being terrible it’s hard it’s awkward he
was growing every day getting better
every day but still well behind
everybody else and then he spent a year
to a year and a half being average to
above average all so that he could spend
to really one-and-a-half years being
great one of the best high school
tripper jumpers in the state of Texas
and that’s quite a feat one day we were
at practice you know he had watched his
growth and so we were at practice and he
was philosophizing about how far he
thought this type of practice could take
him and he looked at me and he said
coach where what’s the world record in
triple jump I was like oh that’s that’s
60 feet Ricky and he goes sixty feet I’m
gonna beat that someday
and when he said that I did not laugh in
his face I didn’t sit there and say oh
yeah Ricky I didn’t remind him that in
the whole course of human history all
hundred and seven billion people that
have walked two faces sir there’s been
only one person who’s ever done that I
didn’t remind him of any of those things
I just looked at him and I said okay
Ricky and when you get to 60 feet we
will then work on 61 okay and then we’ll
work on 62 and we’ll just get better
every day now there’s two reasons why I
did not crush that dream reason number
one is because Who am I to sit here and
tell him who he can and can’t be and
what’s possible for him with years and
years of practice and research and study
and improvements I don’t know I would
have felt pompous standing there making
proclamations about who he could be and
what’s possible so I didn’t and the
second reason why I didn’t talk him out
of that dream is because dreams in and
of themselves have value when I was his
age I had a big dream I wanted to play
football in the NFL and that did not
happen for me but on that journey on
that pursuit of that dream I got to I
learned a work ethic I learned
perseverance and because of that I got I
earned a college scholarship to play
football I got to travel the country
play football on TV in front of
thousands of people I saw some of the
most beautiful and amazing things and
met incredible people I met my wife
while I was in college and everyday I am
thankful for her and inspired by her and
inspired by the family that we have in
our kids all these things would not have
been possible unless I stepped out and
pursued that dream because of that dream
I got a college degree which now allows
me to have a job that I love and wake up
every day excited to go to and so I knew
that Ricky’s dream would have value
whether he accomplished it or not and it
did the really special things happen for
him in pursuit of that dream number one
he qualified for the state track meet
and in that is something really special
at McKinney High School the school that
I was at the they have a great tradition
where the if anytime an athlete
qualifies for a state competition many
of his peers the other students will
meet in the commons area and just pat
him on the back and affirm him and
congratulate him and so they did that
for Ricky they sent him out as we were
walking out to go to the to get in the
SUV now he comes out he sees the SUV is
all painted up the cheerleaders are all
there and their cheerleading attire and
the dance team and they create a little
pom pom tunnel for him to walk through
and then on top of that we get into the
SUV and I’m going over the itinerary
with him hey we’re gonna go to the hotel
it’s got a pool we’re gonna wake up the
next morning we got to be up by this
time because they have a continental
breakfast and he’s like whoa whoa coach
what are you talking about pool
continental Brett what’s it what’s a
continental breakfast so I had to
explain to him you know it’s a free
breakfast and all these things are
blowing his mind he’s asking these
questions and I started to realize man
I’m not sure he’s ever been to a hotel
before and then on top of that he gets
handed an envelope full of his per diem
money the school gives him money so that
when he’s away in Austin away from home
he can buy meals and breakfast lunch and
dinner and so he’s sitting there
thumbing through this envelope of money
I’m not sure he’s ever seen how much
money in one place and the journey
continued and the excitement continued
and now it’s the day of the
state track meet it’s been building to
this point we’ve already warmed up we’ve
walked to the entrance of the of the
venue this is the time where the athlete
walks out onto the track and I as the
coach have to go to the coach’s box and
so I just hug him and I tell him I love
him I tell him I’m proud of him and that
I’m so excited for him and we’re all
gonna love him we’re all gonna be proud
of him no matter how he does and I put
my arm around him and I go to walk him
into that venue and he kind of puts the
brakes on me and I walk around and I
look in his face and he’s looking into
the stands and he sees all these people
the stands are packed and he’s got this
look of terror on his face of just
absolute fear and he’s sitting there and
I watch him he’s kind of nodding to
himself and I know he’s giving himself a
little pep talk and then finally he just
looks at me and he just goes I got this
and he walks out there and that in and
of itself is a skill set to be able to
feel the fear and to persevere is a
skill set that cannot be learned on the
couch but can only be learned in the
heat of the battle where you are testing
yourself against the Giants and that is
something that he will use with him the
rest of his life and so that’s why those
dreams are valuable he went out he
performed better than he had ever done
he got himself a big fat state medal
after the track meet we go to Joe’s Crab
Shack he picked the restaurant he’s
sitting there he’s got his appetizer his
entree his dessert he’s ordered one of
everything on the menu he’s got his soda
there he’s surrounded by his friends and
his family he still has that big metal
on his chest and he leans forward and he
says coach where this is crazy and I
agree when you pursue a dream when you
step out to accomplish something special
amazing things happen crazy things
happen expect adventure and that’s what
he got and I’ll and and the the medal
that’s awesome and the adventure in the
stories
those are awesome but what is really
special is the character that he learned
the perseverance that he earned the
courage that he that he gained all these
things have value and he’s gonna be that
type of father he’s gonna be a father
that uses that work ethic with his kids
and and his family and his wife he’s
gonna be the type of employee that knows
how to persevere under pressure he is
not the only one there are tons of kids
just like Ricky fan Troy who pursued a
dream and along the way gained so much
more than they ever imagined for example
there’s a kid up there he plays major
league baseball there’s another kid up
there he plays football in the NFL there
are multiple kids up there who’ve won
state championships in track and field
and there are also kids up there whose
dreams ended in disappointment but when
they got to the end of that road the
same is for me when I did not get
drafted to play football in the NFL I
looked around and I looked at my family
and I looked at my job and I looked at
all these people that I’ve met and
things that I’ve gotten to seeing the
character of her and I realized I was
not left empty handed and that is what’s
special I believe that pursuing a dream
is valuable almost I won’t almost would
go as far as I say necessary for a
child’s development researcher Angela
Duckworth says this about
extracurricular activities she says it
as a parent and a social scientist I
would recommend that as soon as your
child is old enough you find something
they might enjoy outside of class and
you sign them up be it band Orchestra
debate team chess club theater sports
any of those things but something that a
kid can persevere in and pursue and
something that will cause them to step
out and and try and do something great
that is what is special and so when I
look at myself as a five-year-old kid
and I think about who I was then and I
think about the kids that I coach now
and I think about my dreams
that I had then and who I’ve become I’ve
realized
that miss Weaver did not lie to us after
all because in the end when you pursue a
dream
you really do transform thank you [Applause]