Are you setting goals or setting results? Not sure?

Results are number oriented such as I want to hit .380. Hitting .380 is a result and if you just say I want to hit .380 you might as well just start making all sorts of claims and see if they happen.

Goals, are what get you to the result. What are you going to do to hit .380 is the goal? When you set goals like this, you will be able reach your goals each day.

Result: Hit .380, have 5Ks per game

Goals: Take 100 swings per day, Throw your bull pens with a purpose

Your goals are the work, they are the process that will inevitably give you the best opportunity for success. This goes back to Were you prepared? Measure your goals daily and your results at the end of the journey.

Your results are a direct measure of your goals and work ethic. If you want to hit .380 and you sit on your coach all year then come the first game you pick the bat up, you haven’t given yourself the best opportunity for success. When people do this, they just talk, they just like to be heard making claims about what they are going to do, and when they fail, they just say oh well. They are able to do this, because they really do not care about the result, they just want to talk.

Lou Holtz said it best when he said

“when all is said and done, more is said than done”

I want you to get out a note card and write down 3 results you want to achieve, and then flip it over and write down your daily goals that will help you achieve the result, and then stick it to the wall above your pillow, or tape it to your bathroom mirror.

(if you are a student athlete make one of these goals academic related)

Now each day, at the end of the day, when you are alone with your own thoughts and nobody to judge, or pat you on the back, you can honestly answer the question:

Did I do what I needed to today in order to achieve my results?

Only you know, and only you need to know, because at the end of everyday, all you have is yourself and your reflection while you brush your teeth. Look the person in the eyes, and see what they say back.

Be accountable to yourself and if you never let yourself down, there is no way you will let anyone else down.

Email me some of your results, and goals, I would love to hear them, and I may even be able to help you formulate your process.

samflamont@yahoo.com

When I was in 8th grade I wrote “I want to play SS in the major leagues” I came up short of that result, but I promise it wasn’t due to a lack of effort.

There are times in every business when it really has to send home a project, they have to nail a presentation, or have you to run a meeting that moves flawlessly. Who do they turn to when that happens? If its you, then are your businesses cleanup hitter. The cleanup hitter is the one who drives in the runs, they are the one you hope is up when you need to knock it out of the park.

You don’t have to be a brown noser or a suck up, you just have to deliver in the clutch. You have to prove, over time, that you are the person they need to turn to when there are runners in scoring position. How can you do this?

*Take on responsibility

*Have accountability

*Point out others who helped with a project

*Ask for responsibility that might be outside of your job description (be accountable as well)

*Perform your duties consistently, day in and day out

*Stay out of office gossip (especially if it is about a co-worker)

The cleanup hitter is old reliable, they swing and miss sometimes, and when they do everyone is surprised. They never complain or blame others though, they just know it comes with the territory, and they accept the results. They take praise and accountability in stride, they never get to excited or to low.

Show up, consistently do a great job, help others, give others credit, take on responsibility, and be a genuinely nice person to be around. These are ways you can become your organizations cleanup hitter.

“Respect needs to be earned and you earn respect by proving yourself as a leader”

Coaches and players need to understand this principle and then put it into action.  I tell my guys all the time, I do not want your respects unless I earn it.  Just because I am a coach does not mean you should respect me, but I am going to work hard and bust my butt to earn your respect.  I am also going to treat you like men.  All I ask is you earn my respect in the exact same fashion I am going to earn yours.

“Coach” is a title, it does not command respect it simply puts you in charge.  Coaches must get their players to play at the highest level all the time and the only way to do that is have their respect.  A player might not like you everyday, just remember they do not like their Mother or Father or best friend everyday either, but if they respect you the same way they respect them then you are doing something right.  Players will get upset when they get disciplined or aggravated when they do not start, but it is how they handle it that matters.  Also, how you handle both of these situations will drastically improve the reaction from the player.  If a coach is up front with a player and handles each matter correctly the player does not have to like the decision.  As a matter of fact I do not want a player to like not starting, but I want my players to understand that every decision that is made is made with the team in mind.  

I let them know from the very start it does not matter if one of you make All-Conference or All-American, all that matters is the success of this team.  Our goals are what matter and winning is our goal, more specifically preparing ourselves to win is really the goal and a win is the result of proper preparation.  If each one of us prepare each day and play the way we can on game day, then we will win and all the other individual rewards will come too, but if each of us focus on individual awards the team goal will not be achieved.  Team above all.

In order to have a great team you must have a team that cares about each other and is accountable to themselves, teammates, and coaches.