Changing the Future

"That was a lot of fun to watch you play today. Bases loaded, one out, winning run at the plate against their two big boys - you really battled.”

“Life must be so easy for some people.”

Slightly confused and not seeing quite how it all related, I asked my son to say more.

“I just knew I was going to strike them out. I imagine some people walk around with that kind of confidence all the time and just know things will go their way. Then they do.”

“What felt different?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking about the situation or what I needed to do. I was just focused on putting the pitches where I wanted.”

I’ve been talking to the team about channeling their emotions and turning it into such laser focus that they can dictate the future. But this was the first time one of them had done it. And, frankly, you need to feel it before you can believe it. If you can get to the point where you summon all the emotions you’re feeling and turn it into a white hot determination, good things will happen.

It’s not trying harder or even working harder. It’s allowing your body to take over and getting out of its way. That laser focus on putting the pitch where you want drowns out the stories you tell yourself (even if you’re not aware that the mind is wandering ever so slightly). It’s just a tiny increase in focus that allows you to perform exponentially better.