Life isn't Fair

I often hear the saying that life isn’t fair. I have never read anything that ever said it was supposed to be fair.   I know our society has done everything it can to make things more fair – like no longer keep scores at games or by giving everyone participation trophies (that will need to be another topic on another day). Anything I have read or heard says that there will be ups and downs along with trials and tribulation. That is all part of the process and how you develop and grow.

One thing that we ALL will have at some point is opportunity. While life might not always be fair – we will all have an opportunity or several opportunities to change our lives. My question is what are you doing to prepare for your opportunity?

You never know when an opportunity is going to present itself. What work are you putting in? Have you slacked off because you aren’t starting and feel like you will never get a fair chance? Are you a victim of Daddy Ball? The questions and reasons can be too many to count. However, you don’t need a fair chance – you just need one opportunity. That is why you get hitting or pitching lessons. That is why you continue to work and perfect the fundamentals of your game, constantly working every day to get a little bit better. You can’t control the results, but you can control your attitude and effort.

You need to take your preparation a step further and also work on your mental capacity and attitude. You have to mentally prepare for your opportunity. You won’t know when the opportunity will arise, but when you properly prepare you will be able to fully focus on the task before you. This preparation will remove anxiousness and performance anxiety and allow you to relax and perform at your best.

Find some drills that you can practice to help you mentally prepare for the challenge ahead. Spend as much time on the mental side of the game as you do the physically side of the game. Spend the off-season looking back at different opportunities you may have had and truly ask yourself if you were prepared. If not, what could you have done different?

At Inside the Batter’s Box, I want to share knowledge and wisdom from the learning experiences I have had in my career. I didn’t spend enough time mentally training and preparing myself. I want to provide more tools on the mental side of the game of baseball rather than the physical drills you can practice. There is not enough information on mental preparation for players and parents and I am going to work very hard with some partners of ours to change that. Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. You have done the hardest part, now go out and execute. Don’t forget to have fun while doing it.