Aptitude Versus Attitude: A Lesson That Lasted

I can recall having only one firm conversation about grades with my son, Akil. He was in about third grade when he brought home a report card with all B’s; respectable, certainly, but not quite in line with what he’d earned before. As I looked a little closer, something caught my eye: a B in PE and a B in art.

Math or science? Sure, I could understand a challenge there. But third grade physical education? Art? This was a kid who played every sport he could get his hands on outside of school. When I asked him how he managed a B in gym, he didn’t have much of an explanation.

So I took the opportunity to talk about the difference between aptitude and attitude. I told him that if a B represented his best effort; his honest attempt to understand the material and complete the assignments, I could live with that. But if the grade was lower because of attitude, because he simply didn’t want to do the work, then that was a different story. That was something he could control. And he needed to understand the difference between “I can’t” and “I chose not to.”

Something from that conversation must have stuck. From that year forward, the A’s began to outnumber the B’s. And that mindset carried him all the way through college, where he recently graduated Magna Cum Laude and earned a place in the National Football Foundation’s Hampshire Honor Society, a distinction recognizing academic excellence and positive athletic contributions on the sports field.

As many young people approach their commencement ceremonies, I am reminded that the journey is real, the accomplishment is significant, and the path ahead is full of possibility. This new beginning is a chance to take full advantage of every opportunity.

Don’t let attitude become the limiter of your potential. Instead, lean into your aptitude; your gifts, your work ethic, your willingness to grow. When you do, your altitude, your ceiling for success, rises higher than you may have ever imagined.

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