Don't Reward The Small Things

This past Christmas I got the book "No Limits" by Michael Phelps(with Alan Abrahamson). Finally, after 7 months, I have picked it up an begun to read it. I have already found a small passage that I really enjoyed. Here is the excerpt:

"We got home from Federal Way on a school day. My mom, who was at work, had put a large banner saying, 'Congratulations,' on the lawn and had trimmed it in red, white, and blue. Bob, who had brought me back to house, took down the entire display. When she got home, Mom was furious. Bob was unmoved. It was a matter, Bob said, of tempering expectations. Best to keep everything in perspective. Bob asked my mom, 'What are you going to do when he wins nationals? He got third. If he wins, are you going to but him a car? If he sets a world record, what, a house? You can't get excited about every step. There are so many steps. We're on, like, step 200 of 3,000. How are we going to keep going?'"

I think I really enjoyed this excerpt because that is the way that I grew up. When I was in elementary school I saw that many of my friends got an allowance. They explained to me that their parents let them have an allowance so that they could learn to manage money at a young age. I thought this to be a great concept so I decided to take this idea to my dad. His response was a simple, flat out NO. He went on to explain that he didn't think I should get paid for doing something I should be doing in the first place(like my chores). This is the same reason me and my brothers never got any money for good grades on our report cards like some kids did. He told us we were suppose to make good grades and again, shouldn't be rewarded for something we are suppose to do. I think this concept is lost in the world today. As Michael Phelps mother did, people want to give rewards for every small step. By doing this it keeps kids from really being pushed to new levels. If they receive a reward for every little thing that they do then what will be there to make them strive for the next level of success. They already got a reward for something so why press on? On the other hand when you do not reward every step you push them to new limits. They know and understand that rewards are only given for doing something truly great or for reaching a serious goal. By doing this it shows people that you already knew they were good enough to accomplish the small things. Therefore you didn't reward them for something that they should be doing or should have been able to do. A good lesson that I think needs to be spread around more in the world of athletics today. It pushed people to the next level and lets them tap into their full potential as an athlete and as a person.