Pursuing big goals is never easy but sometimes we like to make it even harder. Here’s what I mean.
I can’t remember where I heard this the other day—maybe at a conference I was attending or from someone online. They were talking about baseball great Babe Ruth, who was known for how many hits he had, while people often forgot how many times he struck out.
Then they said something close to this: “It’s important to remember that you’ll never get a hit if you don’t swing the bat. You may not strike out, but you’ll never get a hit.”
And I immediately thought, “You know nothing about baseball!”
I think what they were trying to say was you have to put it on the line—take a swing—to get a hit. And that is great advice, but I got distracted by the obvious mistake.
As I thought about it more, I realized something I had always known but never really considered. Baseball is engineered to encourage batters to swing.
If you get up to the plate and leave the bat on your shoulder, you’ll strike out in three pitches. Sure, you could get walked with four balls—but you’ll never see that fourth pitch if you don’t swing.
If you don’t take action, you’re going to lose.
Life is a little bit like this as well. We all have dreams and goals. Some are easy to achieve, but others require us to extend ourselves a bit more.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of wanting to reach a goal but being afraid to fail. If we resort to inaction, however, failure is guaranteed. If you never swing, you’ll never hit a home run—or even get a hit.
One of the things that made Babe Ruth a great player was his willingness to take risks. He swung his bat often and was rewarded for it, with 2,873 hits and 714 home runs. Both were MLB records for decades.
But in order to get those records, he struck out a lot. Babe struck out 1,330 times in his career, which was also a record for several decades as well.
I’m a huge baseball fan, but the importance of taking a swing didn’t fully hit me until I heard that misstatement. And I’m glad he did because it’s made me realize something important.
I want to be like Babe Ruth. I want to take my shot in life and follow my dreams. And I want to help others swing for the fences, too, so they can achieve their goals.
If there’s something you’ve dreamed of doing but feel stuck along the way, let’s talk. I offer a free 20-minute strategy call to help you take quick, meaningful steps toward your goals—professional, personal, or purpose-driven.
If you don’t take action, you’re going to fail! I’d love to help you hit a home run!