After experiencing life’s unfairness, most of us would be ready to give up. Sometimes, you get thrown one curve ball after another. Or you can find yourself at the mercy of a monumental set back and think “Well, what am I supposed to do?”.
Well, maybe we should take our cue from Dr. Myron Rolle.
Myron Rolle is a neurosurgeon and former NFL player.
With a title like that, you can expect that the story behind his success is all the more interesting. You would be right.
Rolle wasn’t always the man he is now. He had a troubled youth, and one that almost ended his future right there.
As a kid, Rolle was quite the troublemaker.
His mother recalled the time he and his brother put dishwashing liquid in an aquarium. What ensued was a very slippery, bubbly mess that neither of the brothers admitted to.
A vital moment of his youth was when he beat up another kid for calling him the N-word.
Being called a hurtful slur would send any kid of the edge, and Rolle was only human.
He beat up the kid in an enraged fit, and ended up in court because of it.
“The pivot point for me was standing in that courtroom in front of that judge and having him admonish me for beating up this kid so badly that he had to get medical treatment for his injury.”
“This was the moment where I was like, oh my gosh, we’re going to get deported back to the Bahamas — my parents have come so far and I’m putting us in this precarious position.”
The young Rolle decided then that he’d make better decisions from now on.
He gained two football scholarships and even proved to be a top-scoring recruit at Florida State University. These were all little steps he took to better his future, and it’s that method of making progress that he wants to put a finer point on.
Those little steps set him on the path of his senior years at Oxford University in England.
There, Myron received his education to become a neurosurgeon. That was also when he was drafted by the NFL.
He had quite a lot of responsibilities on him now. Myron made progress that he could’ve only dreamed of when he was in that courtroom all those years ago.
And he cites the “2% method” for helping him get where he is now.
What’s the 2% method? Well, it’s best explained by Dr. Rolle himself.
“breaking down a larger goal that could seem daunting and making it more manageable.”
“The 2% way is this mindset that my football coach at Florida State, Mickey Andrews, placed on all of us. He wanted us to make these small tangible, practical goals of improvement every single day and would challenge us to get 2% better — for example, in our back peddling, our ability to tackle, our ability to catch the ball. And then when we got off the field, he’d actually go into the locker room and write on the board: Myron Rolle. ‘Did he get 2% better?’ It helped keep me accountable, and I extrapolated that ideology for life.”
These words of advice would definitely resonate with a lot of us.
A lot of tasks can seem insurmountable and not worth it. Or perhaps depression, ADD, or anxiety might be holding you back. Taking it slowly might just be the strategy to go with.
After all, houses are built brick by brick. Trying to get a whole wall or ceiling done in one week isn’t feasible, you know?
“You have small wins every single day, and then a month from now, two months from now, a year from now, you say, look how much better I’ve gotten, and look how much more I’ve improved.”
With the power and success he has now, Dr. Rolle began a foundation to help others get a good start too.
Black people don’t get the same healthcare privileges as many others, and Dr. Rolle is doing what he can to change that.
He founded the Caribbean Neurosurgery Foundation with the goal of making healthcare more accessible to people in Caribbean nations.
Dr. Rolle went from fighting a kid many years ago to fighting a system gap in medicine. His 2% method really seems to work wonders.
Why not let your family and friends see Dr. Myron Rolle’s story too by sharing this article with them?
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
