What makes a high performer?

This is an article for those who believe they cannot attain their goals. For those who believe they're too late. For those who are afraid of failure and ridicule.

Above is a photo taken by my mother Sue of me standing next to a portrait of myself she recently finished and entered into a very competitive art show.

My mother raised me and my sister as a single parent after my father passed in a car accident in 2004. I was 10 years old that year and we lost control in our minivan driving home in the harsh winter snow and slush of Chesterland Ohio. It was without question a difficult and life-changing time for my family as my mother and sister grieved with friends and family and I tried to forget anything happened.

We moved to Chesterland from Cleveland Heights where my mom had a teaching job at Cleveland Heights High as an art teacher. As she would explain it, she taught the hard art class there so no, she didn't teach Travis and Jason Kelce, although they may remember her from school. Living in the house of an art teacher there are a few things we had that most other homes didn't. We had an infinitely evolving home interior color scheme and we had beautiful paintings to stare at on our walls. Our house was full of colors ranging from a sunrise orange painted with a sponge in our kitchen to a deep bluish purple in our dining room. Her fervor for color and art was always apparent to me. However, when my dad passed a lot of things we did as individuals and as a family went away. I can't remember a dinner we ate on our dining room table after he passed, nor can I remember a day my mom took to paint. As a kid it's hard to judge the full range of emotions your parent is experiencing and so I won't pretend to know or understand. What I do know? Mom kept working, kept cleaning dishes, kept cooking dinners and NEVER complained. My sister and I learned to cook and do laundry to try and help, but just to help ourselves to more food and the clothes we wanted to wear. We didn't have more chores than other kids and we lived normal Midwest middle-class life. My mom continued to drive 45 minutes to work and 45 minutes back home every day while dragging us to sports or taking us to a friend's house to help out with our extracurricular activities.

All of that extra work every day seriously hampered my mom's ability to express herself on canvas. Not to say she NEVER did, but it was far less frequent than it had used to be. After eight more difficult years raising unruly children, she had an empty nest, a new lifestyle as a retiree, and a new home that had a whole room just for art. After 11 years of uninhibited painting every day, classes and a few more naps every week she has blossomed into an entirely new artist. Her art has taken on a new meaning and reflects the swollen knuckles gripping the brush each day. I have never heard my mom complain about her plight or her circumstances. She is constantly pointing out better artists within the art shows she enters and never seems to compare her art to pieces that are placed ahead of hers. She is humble, hardworking, appreciative, and happy without reproach. She is happy to be included and recognized and in constant reflection of her progress and abilities.

Some say comparison is the thief of joy, but I have learned from my mother that comparison is only analysis in those who are truly humble. I have constantly driven myself to become the best person I can be through my actions, but I have never been deserving of the moniker humble. I constantly tell myself I am the best in order to meet my own expectations of myself. Watching my mom judge art pieces in a gallery she is competing in without ever mentioning her standings within the crowd has taught me to what level a humble attitude can elevate your skills and well-being. She has taught me in a visceral way what it is to continue and never quit no matter what the odds are against you. A decade of stagnation and pain may feel like an eternity, but it is only forever if you let it be so.

Are you waiting for your chance to start? Start now.

Do you think it's too late? So long as you live and breathe, it isn't.

Stay humble. Be proud. Never stop.

STAY HUMBLE. BE PROUD. AND NEVER STOP.