It's 2 a.m. and I'm up walking my house in the dark with a cell phone to my ear. I'm listening to a 24-year-old baseball player rant on his professional life. He's been relegated back to the minor leagues. From a first class private jet to a bus, life can change quickly in the pros. On the other end of my phone is a young man staring his future in the eye. He is at a professional crossroad. We've all been there.
Reality and expectation often clash. What you want and what happens can be polar opposites. It's here that you get tough and go successfully forward or wilt and collapse into mediocrity and insignificance. Life is cruel. Professional sports are worse, because your success and failure are available for all to see and judge.
How do you continue to fail and remain positive?
Sounds easy, doesn't it? Keep a stiff upper lip. Stay focused on your strengths. Dwell on the positives. Don't forget who you are. Act as if you're an All-Star. Only think about what you want. All of these statements and positive thoughts can work. But what if they haven't?
What if your bosses say you're the future face of the franchise? Then they reverse their position within 30 days and tell you to make major changes or you'll be off the team? It's the "what have you done for me lately?" style of management. And while these changes are being made, you still must face the competition. How do you work on the basics of your craft while staring down a 96-mph fastball? What if you only half believe the changes are right for you? They said that what you had was enough. Now that you've hit a lull, what you have doesn't cut it. The world is watching. Your family and friends are watching. Your bosses are microscopically watching!
Management in professional sports has a lot to learn about motivation. They have a lot to learn about peak performance. This is why I only work with labor, not management. In fact, management sometimes is the challenge.
Winning is first, second and third. It is everything! We all know this. Management can build you up so they can sell more seats, parking, hot dogs, beer, and even your face on a bobble-head doll. Or they can tear out your heart and open up the lineup to someone that they believe has a heart. It's the nature of the beast. It is what it is.
Who has the heart of the Champion?
Yes, talent is the entry-fee for most premier sporting events. With very few exceptions, all competitors have it. The illusive intangible that is sprinkled on this talent is the elixir that turns their performance into magic. All can, have and will perform in the Zone. This is the ultimate mind and body culmination. The intangible of the heart resides here. However, the heart of the champion attracts the Zone when the stakes are at their highest. At this time the elite performer will have more energy. Here, wisdom will create their strategies and tactics. Intuition will be their guide. The impossible will be brought to its knees. And the ultimate flow of energy will create a tsunami that will engulf the opposition.
The heart of a champion is concealed inside a boy from the country. It is locked up in the body of a kid from the inner city. It hides within the inexperienced and the experienced alike. Coming in all shapes and sizes, it is invisible at first glance. But make no mistake, it will be revealed when the pressure is the greatest.
Do you have it?
Do you have the quality of will and purpose that finds its mark when most needed? Do you have the intangible that rears its head when you are alone? Behind closed doors, will it pull you up from the bed when you are sick? Will it drag your tired body across the finish line after your feet and lungs want to quit? Will it lift your spirits when everyone else gives you no chance? Will it keep you standing tall, especially after you have been beaten down? Will it place visions of success in your head when the horizon ahead appears barren and bleak?
It's now 3 a.m. and our conversation is coming to a crescendo. I ask him to get out of bed and go into the bathroom. In the dark he stands on the cold tile. "Turn on the light and look in the mirror" I command. "The only person you need to talk to is yourself. Sell you on the awesomeness of you. Make a stand that you will never feel like you did tonight. Keep the putrid taste of failure tucked under your lip. Let it remind you that no one controls you, but you. Ask yourself, "Do I have the talent? Do I have the toughness to succeed in this hostile and unforgiving environment?"
"If the answer is yes, then go back to bed dreaming of playing in the 'BIGS' again. See the All-Star in you. With every failure at the plate, raise your chin. Nothing will drop your head again. Nothing. Get back to the basics. Quit complaining about your plight. No more pity parties at 3 a.m. Bury the past after every pitch you face. Get tough! Get back in the trenches of professional sports and showcase what got you here in the first place. I coach champions and that's why I'm here right now with you at 3 a.m. Good night champion. We'll talk before the game tomorrow."
It can be lonely in a strange hotel room away from family and friends, when you feel you're career has dropped off a cliff. It's equally as lonely at the very top of your profession. When you look around from this lofty, high perch, the only tracks you see at the apex are your own.
Look inside. The answers are hidden there. A champion's mind is forged when you're alone in the darkness of your room.
Do you have the heart of a champion?