"The most valuable lesson I learned in Scouting, was not merely the importance of trying things I didn’t enjoy, it was the ability to learn how to enjoy those same things."
Yes, we all do things halfway, but when you are fully committed to a task, a project, or a cause, so much more can be accomplished.
I am an Eagle Scout and I certainly hated a lot of the scouting requirements. They seemed silly, and time-consuming, and frivilous--how many 14 year-old's spend hours weaving a basket?! However, I know a lot of people who got so close to achieving an Eagle rank but chose not to. Did it materially change their life? Obviously not, but a lot of them reflect back on it and think, 'I was so close, why didn't I try just slightly harder?' You don't have to have been involved in Scouting to know that feeling. "I was so close, if I only I had tried harder" is a feeling that sucks and that's what Mike Rowe is trying to tell this Scout.
I think that those people just need to learn to live without regrets, especially because it seems a lot easier the further removed (in time) that you actually are. It's especially useful to live without regrets when you like where you are (or where you are headed) in life, b/c it's possible that those changes in your past could have turned into a worse present (or future) for you.
I made it to Life Scout and quit when I was around 15 or 16. At that point, it didn't feel like learning how to weave baskets and such would really help me in life. Also, a lot of younger scouts were joining my troop, and their parents were turning it into Cub Scouts for older kids. Door to door popcorn sales as a 15 year old? Really?
Don't get me wrong, I learned a ton in Boy Scouts. Many of the skills and lessons I learned have proven to be very useful as an adult. And actually, I quit so I could work full time as a mechanical engineering intern, which started the path to the career I have today.
I don't regret not achieving the Eagle rank at all. The trophy isn't what matters, it's what it takes to get wherever you go.
Obviously not, but a lot of them reflect back on it and think, 'I was so close, why didn't I try just slightly harder?'
Because (in the hypothetical case of Scouting) those were goals that someone else picked for you.
To the extent someone convinces you to jump through various hoops to win their approval, that person is controlling you. And yes, it might even be for your own good. But more than likely, it's for the hoop-holder's benefit.
In this case, the hoop holder is a group dedicated to preparing teens for adulthood. I think the hoops are not designed benefit the BSA -- seriously, they don't get much from forcing a 16 year old to weave a basket or shoot archery. I think instead those silly hoops my be meant to emulate something else.
Lets take a dirgression: I have a friend who owns a bike shop. He absolutely loves fixing bikes, setting up bikes, and helping people get into biking. It is a passion and he does good at that stuff. He absolutely hates inventory, book balancing and changing flat tires (well all menial bike maintenance tasks). Those maintenance tasks are a big part of the regular revenue stream, and the other things are just necessary for business. He can't afford to hire someone to do the stuff he doesn't like, it would cut too much into his profits and he would have to take a second job to live. Those can probably be argued as hoops he chose for himself, here are some he didn't: rent, sales tax accounting, business licensing, fire code compliance, insurance rules, and so on.
Had my friend taken your advice and not learned how to jump through hoops (and fucked the man in the process!) he would be fixing bikes at a loss.
Perhaps the overall goal and fun level in becoming an eagle scout is enough that putting up with the hoop jumping is worth it? Maybe that thing they are emulating is "real life" where sometimes you just gotta do crappy stuff before you can do the thing you really want.
Yes, we all do things halfway, but when you are fully committed to a task, a project, or a cause, so much more can be accomplished.
I am an Eagle Scout and I certainly hated a lot of the scouting requirements. They seemed silly, and time-consuming, and frivilous--how many 14 year-old's spend hours weaving a basket?! However, I know a lot of people who got so close to achieving an Eagle rank but chose not to. Did it materially change their life? Obviously not, but a lot of them reflect back on it and think, 'I was so close, why didn't I try just slightly harder?' You don't have to have been involved in Scouting to know that feeling. "I was so close, if I only I had tried harder" is a feeling that sucks and that's what Mike Rowe is trying to tell this Scout.