What will You do when it’s Your Turn to Bat?
Things suddenly get very real when the umpire declares “Batter Up!” I remember back to playing little league baseball, and how a mind shift would occur immediately upon hearing those words. It was that mind shift that determined success or failure whenever any batter stepped up to the plate. And success didn’t necessarily mean getting a hit. Success was defined by the confidence a batter exhibited when determining whether a pitch was worthy of swinging at, and if it was, swinging at it with the very best the batter’s abilities had to offer. A confident batter could process and utilize the data from a “swing and a miss” just as affectively as connecting for a hit.
In life, we hear “Batter Up” throughout the day in every area of our life. Have you ever given much thought to mental preparation you’ve engaged when you step into the batter’s box of life? In baseball, the batter coming up after the current batter takes their place in the “on-deck” circle which should really be re-named the “preparation” circle in my opinion. It represents the moments we’re given to prepare ourselves to step into the batter’s box of life with the right frame of mind to achieve success in all that we do. Do you have a designated preparation circle for all the important areas of your life? If so, describe it in words. If not, describe what you believe it would look like so it would provide you the proper preparation for success in all that life throws at you.
Every day, you’re given the opportunity to step into the batter’s box at work. The pitch’s tossed at you each day are never the same. Curve ball, slider, fastball, change-up, or knuckleball. Are you prepared to take a swing at the strikes and let the balls that are outside your strike zone go by? The wisdom gained through the experiences of your past can act as a guide for preparation while you’re in the on-deck circle. This can give you the proper mindset needed to step up to the plate of life and swing for success.
Every day, you’re given the opportunity to step into the batter’s box at home with your spouse, kids, parents, or siblings. The pitches tossed at you each day are never the same and they’re being hurled at you by a totally different pitcher than the one you encountered at work. So, are you prepared to take a swing at the strikes and let the balls that are outside your strike zone go by with the people you love the most? The wisdom gained through the experiences of your past can act as a guide for preparation while you’re in the on-deck circle. This can give you the proper mindset needed to step up to the plate of life and swing for success.
Every day, same thing goes for wherever you are that isn’t work or home. While the pitches may look different, the preparation is the same. Now, this is where you should be wondering if there are ways to improve the time you spend in the on-deck circle of life. One of the sayings that has helped me immensely in this area is: IF THERE’S HOPE IN THE FUTURE, THERE’S POWER IN THE PRESENT! What this speaks to is that if you can envision what you want your “at bat” to result in, you can take steps in the present to prepare for success in the future. This begins with what you choose to feed your mind from the moment you awaken each day.
If you haven’t any kind of response when asked what you fed your mind this morning, then you may as well get used to hearing the ball thumping in the catcher’s mitt, the umpire yelling “strike one,” and your mind going directly to “What just happened?” When it your turn to bat in life, is that what you want the outcome to be? Probably not, but when you step up to the plate of life you should never do the same thing over and over expecting a different result (the definition of insanity). Your morning routine absolutely HAS to include preparation for all of the opportunities that you’ll be granted that day that’ll be your turn to bat.
I’ll add another saying that’s provided a bundle of help to me and my preparation each day, which is: YOU CANNOT BECOME WHAT YOU NEED AND WANT TO BE BY REMAINING WHAT YOU ARE! Our brain has the ability to grow and improve every moment we’re awake. You don’t want to be like “Superfluous Sally” who buries her brain in social media all day and never makes it out of the dugout, do you? As a human being, you’re designed to hit the ball and put it in play a majority of the times it’s your turn to bat. But maybe you’ve already convinced yourself that it’s too hard and that you’d rather scroll mindless videos as others in the world pass you by.
Admittedly, there’s been days in my life where I felt sorry for myself and just wanted to hide in the dugout of life. Maybe it’s just the way I process things, but feeling sorry for myself has a maximum time limit of about 5 minutes. Then I usually refer to myself as a “flaming fruitcake” and walk over to a spot where I keep my favorite Abraham Lincoln quote. I have it memorized, yet I always force myself to say it out loud. It reads: DISCIPLINE IS CHOOSING BETWEEN WHAT YOU WANT NOW AND WHAT YOU WANT MOST!
It's Lincoln’s quote that I say as soon as my day begins. It’s what I tell myself when I’m standing in the batter’s box preparing to step up to the plate. It allows me to focus on what I want MOST in life and determine the path I need to follow to get there regardless of the pitch I’m thrown. It works well for me, and it can work well for you too. I think you should determine what you want most in every area of your life and step into the batter’s box ready to hit a grand slam home run. Hey…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!