Originally Posted by CAMom
I think the difference may be that I am not in any way personally vested in his gymnastics. I would trade it out for something equally as challenging that caused him to reach that point of "I can't" and then persevere. We just happened to stumble upon this one thing.

Common ground here - I'm sure we all see risks to everything coming easily to kids. And, we all see the importance for life in developing persistence and a work ethic.

I'm wondering though if there is any evidence this can be imposed on a kid from the outside. I have seen how a child can be motivated by a true passion to push themselves out of their comfort zone and to work through frustrations. This experience can help a child grow and over the long term contribute to their success. My question: Does it work to force this experience on a child? Is forced hard work at something the child hates a substitute for chosen hard work at a task a child loves? Does being forced to do something you hate only make hard work seem all the more loathsome?