By Jill Wolforth –
Next Monday, September 23rd, marks 100 days until the end of the year 2024. That means 265 days will now be behind us. This makes for a great time to take inventory of what you’ve completed so far and, more importantly, focus on what you want to achieve before the year is over.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of just coasting through the final part of the year. Think about it: the last 45 days are often consumed by the holiday season. That’s why New Year’s resolutions are so common—people want to get back on track or start fresh.
My goal – be flying into the New Year and simply continue the momentum.
For several years, I’ve participated in a program called the 100 Day Challenge. This program emphasizes finishing the year strong by choosing five major goals to accomplish before the year is out—and then getting them done!
Here’s an overview of how it works. I highly recommend trying this for yourself.
First, brainstorm and choose your five major goals to achieve before the year ends. Once you’ve selected and written them down, think about why each goal is important to you. Write down three reasons for each goal and prioritize them. This is where many people miss the mark—they set goals but don’t connect them to a powerful emotional reason. But the “why” is absolutely critical. Coach Wolforth always tells his pitchers, “If you have a big enough ‘why,’ the ‘how’ becomes self-evident.”
Take Roger Clemens, for example. His mother, a single mom, worked late cleaning office buildings to support her family. Roger recalls seeing her on her knees scrubbing floors and feeling determined to ensure she didn’t have to do that for the rest of her life. I’d say that’s a pretty powerful “why.” My whys are not that dramatic, but they very important to me. Yours must be meaningful to you.
The next step is to list five specific action steps for each goal, along with a target completion date for each step. And remember, these actions must be SPECIFIC.
For example, if a pitcher’s goal is to throw 85 mph, a vague action step like “improve my mechanics” is much to vague. It lacks clarity. A more specific action step would be: “Improve my arm action (forearm flyout) to feel more connected and reduce arm pain within six weeks (by November 1st).” You could even break this down further by adding additional steps like “use the connection ball five days a week” or “analyze mechanics on video once a week.”
So once again, the key components of the action steps:
1) Be specific
2) Set a deadline – The deadline/target dates are a must – Don’t miss this. For me, as someone who’s self-employed, these set dates are essential. We all work better with deadlines. Just imagine if schools didn’t have a deadline on the start of the day, who knows when kids would show up.
It’s really that simple, select your Top 5 goals, identify and prioritize 3 reasons you want to achieve the goal, list 5 specific action steps and target dates to achieve the goals.
So, here we are – 100 days left in the year. What will you make of it?
If you know deep inside your being that you’ve got some great things left to accomplish this year, or if you’re not quite satisfied with where you’re at right now, consider this your wake-up call. 2024 is quickly coming to an end. Finish strong!
(If you’re interested in the 100 Day Challenge, you can find all the details at www.100DayChallenge.com. I highly recommend it. There’s a nominal fee for the program but the value is worth so much more. Like I said, I’ve done it several years and get excited each year when the time comes around.)
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Important TBR Updates
- Join us for one of our Fall/Winter Elite Pitchers Bootcamps! Please CLICK HERE to learn more and secure your spot.
Dates include:
Oct. 12-14 (Columbus Day weekend – Space Limited)
Nov. 23-25 (Space Limited)
Dec. 28-30
Jan. 18-20 (MLK weekend)
Feb. 15-17 (President’s Day weekend)
- Attention parents of pitchers ages 8-12. Our 2024 Youth Elite Pitchers Bootcamp is Oct. 5 & 6 and we’d love to have you join us!
- Calling all CATCHERS – Registration NOW OPEN for our 6th Annual Elite Catchers Bootcamp (ages 13 & up). For more information go to www.TexasBaseballRanch.com/
catcher or CLICK HERE to sign up.
- REGISTRATION NOW OPEN for our Alumni camp. To register CLICK HERE. For more information go to https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/events/alumni-pitchers-bootcamp/.
- Have you been considering attending one of our 3-Day Elite Pitchers Bootcamp but haven’t yet pulled the trigger? To help, we have a detailed mailing package entitled “What Makes This Boot Camp Different”. If you’d like to receive this package and start making plans for the fall/winter, email Jill@TexasBaseballRanch.com and request a copy.
- NEW VIDEO on our YouTube Channel: “Post Pitching Recovery – Part 4”. Watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ5OlhrmSkY and share your opinion in the comments.
