In my final season of baseball in high school, I took a few trips down to USC to attend pitching camps with a very famous coach named Tom House.
Tom House's claim to fame wasn't that he was a great pitcher, but that he was a brilliant pitching coach. In fact, he was so good that he coached the most famous pitcher of all time, Nolan Ryan.
After about 60 pitches in the bullpen (all of which he was dead silent) he turned to me and said...
He said, "Evan. 10% of the time you are going to be amazing, 10% of the time you are going to suck worse than imaginable, and 80% of the time you are going to be just average.
Champions are made in that 80%."
80% of the days you have you are going to feel average. That's right. Average. Nothing great about the day. Nothing crappy about the day. Just "meh."
That may seem like a pretty bitter realization about life, but there's a final piece to all of this that really makes the lesson worthwhile.
The secret is this...you get to choose how your day is going to go when you make the decision to rise to the challenge or to fall to pieces. That is completely up to you.
The choice is yours. But you have to set an intention for the day. You have to be willing to do what is hard...especially when you aren't feeling up for it. Because that's where the champions are made...
Those decisions are made when no one is watching and are truly a full representation of your integrity and who you are as a person. Even though those small decisions don't have an audience, they are the ones that will make or break you.
Most days no one will ever see you put the time and effort in to become a champion.
But that's not the point. The point is this...
You know how much effort you are giving.
If you understand that everything in your life truly comes down to who you are on the inside and what you are willing to give to see your dreams through, you can accomplish anything. You can become something great and do great things if you are willing to make the sacrifices.
Because when all of this is said and done, you'll either look back on your life knowing you gave it your best and there was nothing left on the table for you to do or you will live in regret.
That's the only way to do it. Go big.
So decide that you're going to have the best year of your life and make the most of those 80% days.
Tom House's claim to fame wasn't that he was a great pitcher, but that he was a brilliant pitching coach. In fact, he was so good that he coached the most famous pitcher of all time, Nolan Ryan.
After about 60 pitches in the bullpen (all of which he was dead silent) he turned to me and said...
He said, "Evan. 10% of the time you are going to be amazing, 10% of the time you are going to suck worse than imaginable, and 80% of the time you are going to be just average.
Champions are made in that 80%."
80% of the days you have you are going to feel average. That's right. Average. Nothing great about the day. Nothing crappy about the day. Just "meh."
That may seem like a pretty bitter realization about life, but there's a final piece to all of this that really makes the lesson worthwhile.
The secret is this...you get to choose how your day is going to go when you make the decision to rise to the challenge or to fall to pieces. That is completely up to you.
The choice is yours. But you have to set an intention for the day. You have to be willing to do what is hard...especially when you aren't feeling up for it. Because that's where the champions are made...
Those decisions are made when no one is watching and are truly a full representation of your integrity and who you are as a person. Even though those small decisions don't have an audience, they are the ones that will make or break you.
Most days no one will ever see you put the time and effort in to become a champion.
But that's not the point. The point is this...
You know how much effort you are giving.
If you understand that everything in your life truly comes down to who you are on the inside and what you are willing to give to see your dreams through, you can accomplish anything. You can become something great and do great things if you are willing to make the sacrifices.
Because when all of this is said and done, you'll either look back on your life knowing you gave it your best and there was nothing left on the table for you to do or you will live in regret.
That's the only way to do it. Go big.
So decide that you're going to have the best year of your life and make the most of those 80% days.
About the Author:
Evan Sanders is a professional life coach at AYKME coaching. Dive into the meaning of integrity by clicking here or read more quotes about changing for life.
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