My daughter is 10 and coming into her own.
She asked me to coach her in soccer — and wanted me to lead it.
So we went headfirst.
Out to the field. Cones set. Cleats on.
But before we started, we had to set the tone.
She needed to know “Dad” wasn’t here — Coach was.
So I opened with what I call The Extra-Ordinary Conversation.
I asked her, “Honey, in your words, what does extraordinary mean?”
She said, “Like… wow. Amazing.”
“Good,” I replied. “You got it.”
Then I nudged her further:
“Now break the word in two. What does it mean to be extra ordinary?”
She paused.
So I filled in the gap.
“Most people want big things. But when it comes to their actions, they do what most people do — the same effort, the same reps, the same time.
Their effort is ordinary.
If you want to truly excel, you can’t just do the normal amount.
You can’t commit the ordinary amount of time.
You have to go above it.
You have to put in the extra to become extra-ordinary.”
I could see her wheels turning.
“I don’t care if it’s soccer, singing, or school,” I told her. “All I care about is that you find something worth your time — and then give it the extra.”
That same week, I went to the Olympics.
And while I was gone, my wife told me something that made me smile:
Our daughter had been outside, quietly putting in extra reps with her soccer ball.
This story isn’t really about my daughter.
It’s about you.
Because whether you realize it or not, you’re competing — against expectations, against complacency, against your own potential.
Ordinary effort gets ordinary results.
So here’s the question:
Are you putting in the ordinary?
Or are you putting in the extra that makes you extra-ordinary?
