Ok, so last time I wrote about Consistency and just laid down the foundation for some future blogs on the topic. I touched a bit on how consistency is really just a thought away. I also touched on emotions and that is really where it all starts. So what I wanted to rap about this time is habit of thought and how to go about creating the habits of thought that are going to head you in the direction of what you want in your baseball career or life for that matter.
Your thoughts and emotions basically go hand and hand. They are like best buddies. Your thoughts don't want to go anywhere without their partner, Mr. emotion. This is how it all starts: you have a thought, during these thoughts that you have there will be an emotion that comes with it. If you can be aware enough of your emotions and what you feel like while these thoughts go in and out of your head, you will know where you are heading in your career and life. For example, Johnny is ten years old. He has trouble throwing strikes when he is on the mound. Parents are screaming at him to throw strikes, the coach is screaming at him to throw strikes and his teammates are doing the same. The next day Johnny is relaxing by himself and playing some video games. As he is playing the video games he remembers what happened in yesterdays baseball game. The thought comes through his head that he is not a very good pitcher. Immediately after thinking that thought he felt a weird feeling in his gut. It felt like failure, pain, maybe even guilt. Well, in that moment his emotions are letting him know that the thought he is currently thinking is not serving him. The thought he is thinking feels bad because it is not really true. Yes, Johnny had a bad outing the other day and couldn't throw strikes, but this doesn't make him a bad person or even a bad player, it just means he has some work to do to get better.
Ok, so what work does he have to do to get better? Well, right now I guarantee everyone who is reading this blog is saying he may need mechanical work or maybe he should get a pitching coach or maybe he doesn't practice enough during the week. Each of you would probably be very right in all of those answers except I want to play devils advocate here. The physical work is definitely a part of the process, but what should really come first? The emotional/mental process or the physical process? For most everyone, especially the kids, the process would always start with the physical work and then somewhere down the line the kid would be good enough or not to continue playing. But what happened if the kid started realizing that his habit of thoughts and the feelings that come with those thoughts are leading him closer or further away to the goals he wants to accomplish in life? Would he want to know this information? And wouldn't it be better to have this information sooner then later in their life's journey?
This brings us to the purpose of this blog, habit of thought. As soon as we wanted to or would be inspired to, we should start to take care of our habit of thought. We do that by being more aware of how we feel and then making statements or creating thoughts that assist us in feeling the way we want to feel. The Universe is a very powerful place, I think we could all agree on that even without getting to deep into this. But if we can believe, as I mentioned in the first "consistency" blog, that our thoughts create our success, then we need to address this as soon as we can. If you are a parent reading this blog you could do many things for your kids to create a positive and uplifting environment for them to succeed and get better. If you are an athlete reading this blog then you have the inside route to success and a long, healthy career that most would never know about. Now, this doesn't mean others will not have success if they don't know about this, they will, many do!! The point is that if we can learn about our thoughts and emotions and practice the mental/emotional game we want, then we can deliberately create a career we want instead of thinking we are at the mercy of politics.
The next step is pretty simple, be aware of how you feel. So after reading this blog sit for a second and try this exercise. Make a statement that makes you feel a fulfilling emotion inside your gut. A feeling like appreciation, love, joy, anything like that. It can be a statement about yourself, a friend, a family member, whatever creates that good feeling emotion. Now, on the flip side, think of something that makes you feel an emotion like anger or frustration. Do you see how your thoughts are creating emotions inside you? Which statement made you feel better? Which statement do you think would better serve you in your career or in your life? This is what habit of thought is all about. As we practice good feeling habits of thought that is what we get back in our life. The success/consistency can come immediately, it really doesn't take long. But, if you have been (for the lack of a better word) a negative thinker for a while, it just may take a little bit to tip the scales and see the consistency on a normal basis. Trust me, you will see a difference in your performance immediately, you just have to be patient to gain the consistency based on how good you are at practicing the thoughts you want to have in your life.
So get to work. Start being aware of how you are feeling and if you don't like it, then make a better statement to get you on track. More to come on this soon.....pitch well everyone!!!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Consistency
I continue to get some great ideas for blog topics from friends and interested Passion for Pitching followers. This blog is going to continue with that theme and so I took this idea from my good friend Christine Meyer. She happens to be a tremendous life coach in the lovely state of Pennsylvania. We have great conversations on a regular basis and she is able to challenge my thought process over and over. The topic she wanted me to discuss was consistency. So this will be blog #2 in the series of blogs I am responding to from you guys out there. How can a pitcher become consistent?
Consistency is the key to pitching success, bar none. At any age, if you can produce consistent results on an outing to outing basis you will be a big league pitcher, no question. Seems easy, right?? Produce consistent results and POOF, there you are, in the big leagues. Ok, so if it seems so easy, why is it so tough? Why can't kids create consistency in their outings over and over and over?
I am going to try and make this as easy as possible, as clear as possible. But what I am going to need from you is a little trust, a little leeway. I want you to all understand that this process of success and consistency IS easy. It is only a thought away. Here is what I mean by that, the body is controlled by the brain. The visual information that we take in from a moment to moment process is taken in, received by the brain, translated by the brain and then carried out via commands from the brain. (more or less, this is not a perfect description, but you get my drift) If this is true (and it is) couldn't we add our thoughts to this as well? Couldn't we say that the thoughts we think are being computed by the brain and then carried out through our body? If you can get your head around this and start to believe it, then consistency is truly just a thought away. The more we are able to think thoughts that are success thinking thoughts, consistency thinking thoughts, then that is exactly what we will get.
Think of it this way. If our thoughts can construct our reality then the more I can train myself, the more I can make good thoughts a habit, then a consistent reality is what I will create on the mound. The more I realize that my current experience is being formed by the thoughts I am thinking from moment to moment then I will be more aware of my thoughts and the reality they are creating. I then can realize how important my NOW moment is. My NOW moment is all I have. It doesn't matter what type of failures I have had or inconsistencies I have had in the past because my thoughts RIGHT NOW are what is creating my experience now and in the future.
This is big time information if you can believe in it and really embrace it. Just think of the power you can have in your career, life, relationship, anything! So what do you need to do to get started? Well, I could make this into a long series of blogs and may do just that, but let me give you the first clue. Start being aware of how you feel on a daily basis. You don't need to get too crazy right now, just be more aware of how you feel day to day. This is where it all starts. Emotions are the key. If you can begin to understand what your emotions are telling you and then how to direct your thoughts to improve your emotions, then you will be well on your way to the consistent career you are looking for.
I am going to leave you with that...I swear we will continue this discussion very soon but I think this is a good start for us. So go back through and read this blog a few more times so you can truly understand the message. Then I will come back and get more specific and paint a clear picture on the topic of consistency. It may take a few blogs but it will be well worth the read. Until then hope all is well and hope everyone is pitching their butts off this Spring!
Consistency is the key to pitching success, bar none. At any age, if you can produce consistent results on an outing to outing basis you will be a big league pitcher, no question. Seems easy, right?? Produce consistent results and POOF, there you are, in the big leagues. Ok, so if it seems so easy, why is it so tough? Why can't kids create consistency in their outings over and over and over?
I am going to try and make this as easy as possible, as clear as possible. But what I am going to need from you is a little trust, a little leeway. I want you to all understand that this process of success and consistency IS easy. It is only a thought away. Here is what I mean by that, the body is controlled by the brain. The visual information that we take in from a moment to moment process is taken in, received by the brain, translated by the brain and then carried out via commands from the brain. (more or less, this is not a perfect description, but you get my drift) If this is true (and it is) couldn't we add our thoughts to this as well? Couldn't we say that the thoughts we think are being computed by the brain and then carried out through our body? If you can get your head around this and start to believe it, then consistency is truly just a thought away. The more we are able to think thoughts that are success thinking thoughts, consistency thinking thoughts, then that is exactly what we will get.
Think of it this way. If our thoughts can construct our reality then the more I can train myself, the more I can make good thoughts a habit, then a consistent reality is what I will create on the mound. The more I realize that my current experience is being formed by the thoughts I am thinking from moment to moment then I will be more aware of my thoughts and the reality they are creating. I then can realize how important my NOW moment is. My NOW moment is all I have. It doesn't matter what type of failures I have had or inconsistencies I have had in the past because my thoughts RIGHT NOW are what is creating my experience now and in the future.
This is big time information if you can believe in it and really embrace it. Just think of the power you can have in your career, life, relationship, anything! So what do you need to do to get started? Well, I could make this into a long series of blogs and may do just that, but let me give you the first clue. Start being aware of how you feel on a daily basis. You don't need to get too crazy right now, just be more aware of how you feel day to day. This is where it all starts. Emotions are the key. If you can begin to understand what your emotions are telling you and then how to direct your thoughts to improve your emotions, then you will be well on your way to the consistent career you are looking for.
I am going to leave you with that...I swear we will continue this discussion very soon but I think this is a good start for us. So go back through and read this blog a few more times so you can truly understand the message. Then I will come back and get more specific and paint a clear picture on the topic of consistency. It may take a few blogs but it will be well worth the read. Until then hope all is well and hope everyone is pitching their butts off this Spring!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
New Year...
It's that time again. Spring Training is in full swing and that means the minor league systems are getting revved up and ready to roll. I'm back down in Jupiter, FL and participating in my fourth spring training with the St Louis Cardinals. It is very exciting to see the pitchers you had in the previous years turning themselves into productive players and perhaps future big leaguers. The start of the spring and new year of baseball has inspired to my first blog of the season!!
For this blog I wanted to be very quick and to the point. I wanted to share with all of you, what I think it takes for a young athlete to evolve and hopefully mold themselves into successful professional pitchers. So what I am going to do is create a list of things I feel are important and fundamental to the process: (in no particular order)
1. Belief...you must have an amazing amount of belief in yourself and not necessarily need physical proof of that at all times. There are going to be plenty of times in your career where things will not go well. Your belief must grow and stay true throughout.
2. Desire...you have to have an amazing amount of desire to want to be better, to want to be a big leaguer and not care about what anyone else thinks, says or does.
3. Evaluation...you must be able to evaluate your level of play in an honest manner. This doesn't mean you have to beat yourself up and say your no good. But you must be able to be honest in the fact that if you need to get better at something, you can't be in denial about it or not be able to recognize that you need to be better. Then once you realize what you need to get better at, you must be able to know if the work you are doing is worth a damn. There are a lot of guys here in this camp thinking they did a whole lot of good in the off season but really nothing has changed.
4. Focus...you must be able to understand what focus is and what it can do for you. If you are not able to understand and use focus to your advantage it will be very tough to have any sort of a lasting career.
5. Preparation...you must know how to prepare yourself MENTALLY and physically for what you are about to do. If there is no preparation to your work it will be a waste of time. Know what you are going to do and why you are going to do it in all situations.
6. Perspective...you must understand the word perspective and how powerful it is for you. What you perceive will eventually become your reality. Do your best to eventually make everything come from a perspective, a point of view, that will be beneficial to you.
7. Contrast...understand that contrast is shaping your future. It is giving you clarity to show you what you need to be better at and how to go about it. If you can take the contrast and perceive it as a good thing, as "showing you the way", then you can use it to fuel your desire and help inspire you to bigger and better things.
8. Stubborn...you must be stubborn enough to be your own man. Not stubborn enough to where you never listen or you are not open to information that could be helpful, but if there are things that you have done over the years that have made you the player you are now, you must be able to stick to your guns no matter who is in front of you asking you to change or do something different. If your gut is telling you that you are on the right track, then you probably are and shouldn't be persuaded by people who have no clue about how you feel inside.
9. Fun...you must have fun!! This process must be perceived as fun. No matter how tough it may seem at times or how many hours you will put into training or no matter how bad it may hurt at times you must look at it as fun. All the different emotions you will feel and all the different experiences you will have, do your best to see the bigger picture. Nothing matters, it is just the game of life. Have fun, smile and don't take it so seriously.
Alright, that is it for today. I am sure there are many more items to add to the list, but this is a pretty good start for now. I was just thinking of where I was and how there are so many guys here working on their dream and thought I would offer some guidance before you get to the same place. There are just too many athletes here who will not make it and it won't be because they weren't talented enough. It will be because they don't have an awareness of some of the things on the list above. So much easier to see these things being a coach and being on the outside looking in, but it is so true.
See you down the line!!!!
For this blog I wanted to be very quick and to the point. I wanted to share with all of you, what I think it takes for a young athlete to evolve and hopefully mold themselves into successful professional pitchers. So what I am going to do is create a list of things I feel are important and fundamental to the process: (in no particular order)
1. Belief...you must have an amazing amount of belief in yourself and not necessarily need physical proof of that at all times. There are going to be plenty of times in your career where things will not go well. Your belief must grow and stay true throughout.
2. Desire...you have to have an amazing amount of desire to want to be better, to want to be a big leaguer and not care about what anyone else thinks, says or does.
3. Evaluation...you must be able to evaluate your level of play in an honest manner. This doesn't mean you have to beat yourself up and say your no good. But you must be able to be honest in the fact that if you need to get better at something, you can't be in denial about it or not be able to recognize that you need to be better. Then once you realize what you need to get better at, you must be able to know if the work you are doing is worth a damn. There are a lot of guys here in this camp thinking they did a whole lot of good in the off season but really nothing has changed.
4. Focus...you must be able to understand what focus is and what it can do for you. If you are not able to understand and use focus to your advantage it will be very tough to have any sort of a lasting career.
5. Preparation...you must know how to prepare yourself MENTALLY and physically for what you are about to do. If there is no preparation to your work it will be a waste of time. Know what you are going to do and why you are going to do it in all situations.
6. Perspective...you must understand the word perspective and how powerful it is for you. What you perceive will eventually become your reality. Do your best to eventually make everything come from a perspective, a point of view, that will be beneficial to you.
7. Contrast...understand that contrast is shaping your future. It is giving you clarity to show you what you need to be better at and how to go about it. If you can take the contrast and perceive it as a good thing, as "showing you the way", then you can use it to fuel your desire and help inspire you to bigger and better things.
8. Stubborn...you must be stubborn enough to be your own man. Not stubborn enough to where you never listen or you are not open to information that could be helpful, but if there are things that you have done over the years that have made you the player you are now, you must be able to stick to your guns no matter who is in front of you asking you to change or do something different. If your gut is telling you that you are on the right track, then you probably are and shouldn't be persuaded by people who have no clue about how you feel inside.
9. Fun...you must have fun!! This process must be perceived as fun. No matter how tough it may seem at times or how many hours you will put into training or no matter how bad it may hurt at times you must look at it as fun. All the different emotions you will feel and all the different experiences you will have, do your best to see the bigger picture. Nothing matters, it is just the game of life. Have fun, smile and don't take it so seriously.
Alright, that is it for today. I am sure there are many more items to add to the list, but this is a pretty good start for now. I was just thinking of where I was and how there are so many guys here working on their dream and thought I would offer some guidance before you get to the same place. There are just too many athletes here who will not make it and it won't be because they weren't talented enough. It will be because they don't have an awareness of some of the things on the list above. So much easier to see these things being a coach and being on the outside looking in, but it is so true.
See you down the line!!!!
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