By Flint Wallace-
I receive daily emails from Brian Knight (www.focus3.com) that are pretty short and to the point. The current topic he is discussing in these emails is about being ‘elite’.
He states, “Most people never make a serious attempt to be elite. They think about it, talk about it, plan for it, but they never really try.”
There are very few who truly pursue an elite standard. The majority of people are just trying to maintain an existing habit or compete at an average standard.
This is great news for you! This means that the opportunities for you to become elite are available and open to you… if you are willing to do what it takes to reach the elite level.
The reason I believe most do not really try to be elite is they think it will be too difficult, or that you have to be gifted in a certain way.
Becoming elite is not about being gifted, it is about creating a process that is just a little better than your current one in all areas. It’s not about being so obsessed in just one aspect of your development, it is about being a little better in all aspects.
As the great philosopher Aristotle stated, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. The combination of all aspects needed to be elite in any area is exponentially more powerful than each aspect by itself.
Remember, as stated earlier, not many are trying to be elite. Because of that, there are more opportunities for you to separate yourself from the herd if you do.
So, start today by creating your process to become elite. Don’t think of it as a major overhaul but think of it as upgrading your existing methods.
Figure out a plan that will allow you to improve each area of your pursuit at a slightly higher rate than you currently are at.
Write down all areas that you feel contribute to you being elite in your endeavor of choice, then list one or two manageable things you can do daily or routinely in each area to slightly improve that particular aspect.
Also, find an accountability partner to help you with your desired enhancements. This could be a parent, spouse, sibling, friend, coach, teacher, or mentor. More than likely you will need different accountability partners for different areas.
You may even need that partner to provide some assistance besides just keeping you accountable. They may need to help you create new beneficial habits.
One of the best ways to help yourself improve at something is to minimize or eliminate the distractions that are taking up more time than we would like them to.
Maybe you want to get more quality sleep at night or want to avoid the temptation of checking your phone while training or studying. To help with this, you may get your parent or spouse to download an app that will allow them to help you manage and establish screen-free time blocks on your phone.
This may help keep you on track by eliminating that distraction for that period of time, which in turn, should help to slightly improve the quality of our effort in those areas. Remember it is not only about doing an activity that will help you improve, it is also about improving the quality of our effort and focus while doing that activity.
Spend some time today helping yourself become elite by creating your “Process List”.
Slight, consistent, simultaneous gains in several areas every day over weeks, months and years is how one becomes ELITE!
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TBR IS COMING TO ILLINOIS & MINNESOTA in the next 30 days. There are two final opportunities this winter to attend a pitching camp conducted by the Texas Baseball Ranch; January 25-27 at Fastball USA in Chicago and February 8-10th at Blizzard Baseball Academy in Vadnais Heights, MN. It’s the perfect way to get a jump start on the 2019 season and your competition! There will also be a coaches clinic in Minnesota on the evening of February 7th. For more information on the Chicago camp go to www.fastballusa.com/pitch-camp.html and for information on the Minnesota clinic go to mnba.BlizzardEliteBaseball.com.
