Hard Work Pays Off

The best athletes in the world are not always the most talented, or the most athletic, but they will outwork everyone else. All professional athletes are different, there is no cookie cutter type of athlete. Some are tall and strong, others are short and quick, a few are more gifted naturally than others, or have a better understanding of the game and trust their instincts. But the best in the world, will work harder than the competition. Success is not gifted, it is earned, and the better the reward, the more work must go into it. Everyone wants to be the best, but few are willing to put in the work to be the best. Mike Trout, LeBron James, Tom Brady, are some of the best players ever in their sports, and it is not because they had the most God-given talent, but because they worked harder and pushed themselves more than anyone else.

Mike Trout is the best player in baseball by a wide margin, but he wasn’t the first pick of his draft, he wasn’t expected to be as good as he is. Trout was drafted 25th overall in 2009, meaning 24 teams thought that someone else was better than he was and they all passed on having him on their team. Now Mike is one of the greatest players of all-time and each of those teams definitely wishes they had drafted him. A similar story can be said about LeBron James who was taken first in is draft class, and while much more was expected of James, he still worked harder than anyone and exceeded the expectations placed on him by the league. Lastly the same can be said of Tom Brady who was the 199th player selected in his draft. Tom is the definition of an underdog story, someone who was drafted in the 6th round of the NFL draft that consists of only 7 rounds. Tom went on to be the greatest quarterback of all time, when no one expected him to last in the league. While others may be faster, stronger, or more athletic than you are, there is no reason to let others work harder than you do, and that is something that is important not only in sports but all of life as well.