Top Reasons People Succeed Without the Win
/In our lives, there are very few things that can fit everyone’s definition of fun.
Some people LOVE amusement parks while others loathe the thought of steep drops and fast coasters. Some people love risky adventures like sky diving, bungee jumping, parasailing, and zip lining while others think these activities are horrifying. Some people think an evening snuggled in front of the TV with a bag of popcorn is the perfect Friday night while others would call that kind of weekend boring. Are “things” just fun or not fun? Or is personal perspective the denominator? I would argue that a person’s mindset determines fun more than any other predictor. So how does this apply to practicing pitching and performing during pressure filled games?
I believe: Everything.
Do you think to yourself: “YES! I get to go to pitching school today where I can learn how to throw harder, change speeds, locate more precisely, and spin the ball to my opponent’s demise!”
Or
Do you think: “Ugh. I have to go to pitching school today. Maybe mom will forget or get caught late at work.”
I would challenge you to find the fun in almost anything you do by creating purpose in your perspective and having positive self talk about how that purpose will create something exceptional in your lives. Part of that mindset shift is “getting to” rather than “having to.”
We “get” to go to school, learn, and be around our friends all day.
We “get” to write a paper about our founding fathers so we can learn how our country began and why democracy was formed.
We “get” to go to practice to better ourselves at a sport that we love alongside our teammates.
We “get” to go to pitching school with other highly motivated athletes trying to be better at their craft.
We “get” to spend time with mom or dad (or in my case, Uncle John), who is willing to sit on a bucket and catch me while I purposefully work to perfect a spin, a mechanic, or a pitch.
We “get” to play against the best team in the league tonight and I “get” the chance to try and slow down their bats with my change up and drop ball that I’m learning.
Imagine how much more fun school, homework, practice, and everything else we spend so much time doing every week would be if we looked at it all as a “get to” experience?
To take this mindset shift one step further, it would be prudent to note that setbacks are commonplace during the learning process. As we are developing ourselves as students, athletes, competitors, and even people, success will be intermittent. Therefore, it is important to set process goals along our journey to remain positive and continue having fun during the dips and bumps that accompany these growing pains.
For instance, maybe you got a B on that paper about the founding fathers, but did you learn who they were and how they formed our current system of government? If so - that’s really the point. And that learning itself can be fun -with the right outlook. Maybe you lost the game against the best team in the league, but you did strike out their 4-hitter on your new change up? That’s progress, and it won’t be long until you’re fooling everyone in the line-up with that deceptive slow pitch. How cool is that? Embrace pressure as privilege. You “get” the opportunity to try and do something “big.” When your heart beat quickens and your palms start sweating, tell yourself that this moment is why you practice: the opportunity to shoot for the exhilaration of success.
Even when we aren’t successful, we learn something that gives us an opportunity for future betterment, and that should also be fun (if our minds allow it to be). Did you drop the ball, pop the bunt, hit the batter? Well, shoot. Maybe that individual moment isn’t fun. But now what? You get to put yourself in that same situation next practice and create a reward/consequence for yourself until you complete the task successfully under pressure. Then, when that moment arises in a game again, you will have confidence gained to repeat that task under pressure because you’ve done it before. So make that choice to find fun in the process, in the pressure, and in the potential. If you do- chances are your life will be filled with happiness, no matter what or how you are investing your time.
