Ever watch batting practice? It’s as if the goal is to not to miss a baseball versus improving some aspect of their swing. Fair enough, being called Batting Practice does create an image the exercise is about physically loosening up your swing. Which is why I believe most hitters fail to improve during batting practice. They refuse to be embarrassed by missing or mishitting a baseball.
Brene’ Brown states “Lean into the discomfort” and “Embrace vulnerability.” When you acknowledge your vulnerability [e.g., what you’re afraid of] presents the opportunity to fix whatever needs fixin!
- Hitting the Curveball or for Power
- Improving your Pop-Pop Time
- Hitting your Spots with a particular Pitch
- Turning the Double Play
- Diving for the baseball
Unfortunately knowing what we need to work on is the time most tend to shield their vulnerability. Especially if they believe a weakness opens them up to attack, or a possibility of not playing or making the team. This is where we are avoiding failure, and therefore, we are avoiding the opportunity to learn. We can tell ourselves we will fix it later, or convince ourselves hiding the weakness is simpler than trying to fix it right now, but in both cases, we are wrong!
The first step to fix anything is accepting your vulnerability [e.g., knowing what you don’t know or what you’re afraid of] by spending time understanding what it takes to reduce the weakness, then trust your brain! Your brain is a success oriented organ and once filled with knowledge, let it take over and be confident your brain will help you figure it out.
My brain is in complete control of my body.
Until next blog identify a weakness, understand what it takes to reduce the weakness, then keep failing until you figure it out!
Al McCormick
