Coach with your heart, recruit character over talent, and work hard everyday to earn your players respect.

That is a recipe for success.

This is a question that can only be answered by your expectations. Some people are successful as soon as they get drafted. These people get drafted, get the big contract and they consider themselves successful. Others are successful, when they get the big check, rent out the VIP and throw the party. Then again some people are successful after a good year. You set goals, you reached all of them, now you made it. And yet others are successful when their career comes to an end, and they can look back at all the accomplishments they have, they measure their success in championships, money, and broken records.

All of this is personal to each of us, and some of us never even worry about success, we just keep doing what we have done, and let everything fall in place.

For me success lies in living each day to the fullest, and doing everything I can to give back each day I am on this earth. Everyday I do this I consider that day a success, I have no monetary measure of success. I do not care about giving the most, because I cannot compete with others who have more to give, and that isn’t what is about anyway. I simply want to make a difference while I am here. This is success to me, I never really measure it, and today is the first I have actually thought about this, but I am now asking you, what makes you successful.

Setting yourself up for success is a process that builds off of setting goals that get results.  Setting yourself up for success is a goal in itself but it is made up of many smaller goals and can only happen when a player and a team are prepared.

Knowing what pitches the pitcher has, knowing how the pitcher has been pitching you and hitters like you (left or right handed), knowing what his out pitch is, knowing how many outs there are, understanding your job when you come to the plate, knowing how the defense is playing you, knowing how to make a two strike adjustment, are all ways to set yourself up for success.

Even Though these are ways to set yourself up for success, you must be prepared in order to understand all of the things listed above.  Along with preparation comes hard work, so you must be willing to put in the work that it takes to make you prepared for success. 

Anyone can say they want to be a great hitter, they want to be a great pitcher, or they want to be a great fielder, but if you do not put in the work it takes to prepare yourself to be these things then you are simply wishing that things will work out.  When you mix hard work with things you wish to accomplish you will then be “Setting Yourself Up For Success.”

Players must also remember hard work must have a point.  Running 50 sprints is hard work but what are you trying to achieve?  If you want to be a great fielder you may want to take 5 buckets of ground balls with good intensity and a quick pace instead of running 50 sprints.  You may also want to mix both in, but the point is to understand what you want to accomplish and then put together a plan that will help you accomplish what you have set out to do.  Now that you understand and have a plan, all that is left is to actually put in the work. 

Coaches must understand that making a player run because of physical errors is not teaching the kid how to get better but only to hate playing.  Read more about this in “Running Doesn’t Teach A Kid How To Field.”

If you are willing to take the time to be prepared and put the work behind your wants in everything you do in life, you will be “Setting Yourself Up For Success” 

Have fun, Play Hard, and put work behind your dreams.