I have coached many Scouts to Eagle Scout rank.  What is the number one quality that most of them exhibit in achieving their goal?  In a word, persistence.  This is the ability to keep going, no matter what.

Like our furry friend to the right, Eagle Scouts learned how to keep going…and going…and going.  The Eagle Scout Service Project is not easy, and I absolutely guarantee that an Eagle candidate will run into issues or problems.  The ability to persevere through those issues will not only help the candidate reach the finish line, it will give him or her a life-long lesson in overcoming the hardships that one invariably encounters in life.  Another word for this quality is grit.

Persistence, or grit, can be learned.  It can overcome the most challenging of handicaps.  I have coached hundreds of Scouts to Eagle, including those on the autism spectrum, and those with ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, learning disabilities, dyslexia and physical disabilities.  Each one of these Scouts found a way to victory, and the key was grit – the ability to simply one solve problem at a time, not get discouraged, and keep going.

Eagle projects, like most endeavors in a human life, will suffer setbacks.  I earned Eagle Scout rank when I was fifteen, and I remember vividly thinking at the time, “If I can do this, I can do anything that I put my mind to.”  It was a paradigm shift for me (that is, a new world view) and it is for many other Scouts who achieve Eagle rank.  With their Eagle service projects, most Scouts gain the confidence that they can handle life’s problems one way or the other through sheer persistence.

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt

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