Give Yourself a Shot

If you’ve been following along the last couple of weeks, I’ve written about developing standards before you start. Last week, I wrote about the importance of reflection.

This week, the focus is on the in between. The performance. Bringing consistency to that.

I remember years ago working with a young player who was very inconsistent. One week, he’d be the best player on the field. Clear as day that he was going to play in the Major Leagues. Then, the next week, totally lost. I remember sitting around after games, wondering how the heck we were going to help this guy be more consistent. The highs were so high, and the lows were so low. If we could only have a more consistent player, he’d have a chance at a long career.

One of the challenges the player faced was that he knew all of this, too. He knew he could be unstoppable. He felt he was disappointing everyone, including himself, when the results weren’t what he wanted. He was also someone who wasn’t going to just let things happen and hoped it would get better. He was always focused on doing something about it. Bad game, ok, move on to the next. 2 bad games, something needed to change. A tweak needed to happen, an adjustment to mechanics, a change in the routine. When you’re playing over 140 games in a season, that’s exhausting.

Once we started talking more about this, it became apparent that his previous results were what were dictating his next-day routine.

It’s the difference between constantly working to get better, trusting your current routine, and doing work that creates more problems than it solves.

So, one day, we sat down and wrote out the pieces of his routine he needed to do to be ready to play the game. The drills, the prep work, the foods he ate. Then, the things he could possibly go without. The screen time, the video games, etc.

When we finished with that, he agreed to stick with it until the next time we could talk. About 2 weeks later.

Of course, as I’m watching box scores, he didn’t perform well, results-wise, for that time.

(Imagine how that feels. Being the coach who suggests a player do something, and the results on the field actually get worse. If you’re a coach, you’ve definitely experienced that, but I digress lol.)

Then, when I saw him again, I asked how it was going. He said he felt much clearer and more purposeful day to day. That the results just weren’t there, and he was trying to trust they would be.

His coaches were saying the same thing. They played the biggest role in this because they helped hold him accountable.

Progress.

That’s what it’s about. Creating consistency, clarity, and making progress.

Not only did he eventually start seeing results, but his good performances became more consistent. And, the bad ones weren’t as low or for as long.

In baseball, when you’re playing every day, showing up and knowing what you’re going to get is huge.

Taking care of what you need to give yourself the best chance to succeed.

For any high performer, that’s all you can ask for.

You’re all showing up daily for something. A performance, a speech, a game, an opportunity.

What do you need to do each day to give yourself the best chance at success?