Daily blog (audio): There are no medals for trying hard [Sports Day]

<p>There are no medals for trying hard [Sports Day]</p> <p><br> We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at <a href="http://www.myrise.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.myrise.co.uk</a></p> <p><br></p> <p>I was at my middle son’s Sports Day the other week.</p> <p>It was great to watch after 16 months of little to no school stuff like that.</p> <p>The format of Sports Day there changed a few years ago.</p> <p>The kids go round in groups, doing various activities and scoring points for their house.</p> <p>So there’s less in the way of ‘placing’, especially for the younger ages (although they usually work out where they’ve come compared to their mates and there are more conventional races for the older ones).</p> <p>At the end, they add up the scores and announce where each House has placed.</p> <p>And everyone gets a participation medal.</p> <p>Some like the inclusivity of it and how it’s less likely to discourage those that, perhaps, would’ve fared less well under a conventional, more competitive set up.</p> <p>And some don’t like what they perceive to be “medals for everyone” and how that might not set kids up for the realities of life.</p> <p>I completely get both sides of the argument for and against this kind of structure.</p> <p>But, that’s not what this blog is about.</p> <p>It’s about what, in the real world, you never get a medal for.</p> <p>Trying hard.</p> <p>Most things your efforts might get recognition for have some measure of success.</p> <p>You have targets at work.</p> <p>You hit them and all’s good (usually).</p> <p>Doesn’t massively matter how hard you may or may not have worked to hit them.</p> <p>You don’t hit them and you don’t get any bonus points for having tried hard.</p> <p>The hitting of the targets was the important bit, not how much effort went into that.</p> <p>And it’s the same with our efforts to lose weight.</p> <p>Over the years I’ve had many, many conversations with people who’ve been disappointed with their progress.</p> <p>“I’ve bee