Change Your Definition of Failure and Create More Success!

The other day I was watching a football game (it’s September as I write this, ok?) and I was thinking how difficult it must be for a team to do well the entire game, only to see the opposing team take the lead in the final seconds of the game. How demoralizing! How does a person, let alone a whole team, stay focused enough to try one more time to go down the field and score again to win, knowing they have only seconds to do it. After all, they have been working so hard all game, and now that they have less than a minute to go, the other team is winning! Would you have the drive to do it one more time? The odds are against the team, after all, of driving about 75 yards and even scoring a field goal. On this day, the team did it. I won’t mention what team, it doesn’t matter. The point is they “found a way”, somehow, to get it done one more time!

You may say “what does that have to do with my life?” After all, a professional athlete is paid millions to do his job. I would give it my best effort every minute too if I knew I was cashing those monster checks! However, do you really think that money is the prime motivator in life? Even if it was, you have to start at the bottom in any business or endeavor, even as a football player. You work hard, sacrifice, and hope to get to the top someday, but what role do setbacks play in your hopes for achieving success? Are you prepared for a few setbacks? Maybe you are one of those that try something new, and at the first sign of “failure” says it just isn’t going to work for you? I hope not, because that is surely teaching yourself to be a loser!

If you give up after only a few tries, aren’t you programming yourself for future failure? The best way to avoid failure is to never give up, fight until you win!

Let me tell you a little story of man who never gave up. I’m sure you’ve heard these stories before, like Thomas Edison trying almost 10,000 times before he finally perfected the light bulb. But this is a story of a man most people never heard of, and never will beyond this letter. His name is Maxcy Filer and he is from California. He always wanted to be an attorney, so in the 1950’s he went to law school and eventually graduated. He was an intelligent man, and very hardworking, but just didn’t “test well” as they say. He first took the California bar exam in 1966, when his two boys were in elementary school. He didn’t pass. Therefore, he tried again, and again, and again….He eventually took the test 48 times, after spending an estimated $50,000 dollars on fees, bar review course, etc. and finally passed the test! By this time, it was 1991 and nearly 25 years later. His boys were already grown by then, and were lawyers themselves. Now this wasn’t an easy test, the test requires examinees to pass a 300-question multi-state multiple-choice section, two three-hour performance tests, and a plethora of specialized essays on state and federal law topics ranging from community property to criminal procedure. This is the most incredible example of perseverance I can personally think of and drives home the point entirely, which is you only experience failure when you admit failure! Maxcy never gave up, and kept on telling himself “next time, next time” until he finally did it. Would you have given up sooner? Next time you think about quitting anything from a diet plan, to project at work, to that goal of getting your bachelors degree or masters, think of Maxcy Filers story. What does it take to be a winner?

The courage to never give up, that’s what it takes!

To your continued success and happiness!

Are MLB pitchers capable of complete games?

Of course MLB pitchers are capable of complete games. Most starting pitchers have had a complete game therefore they are capable of them. I believe that while they are capable, the chances are drastically falling. Now a starter rarely goes into the 7th and 8th innings let alone the 9th. This isn’t entirely their fault. When you look back at the “good ol days” as i call it pitchers were expected to go nine. They did it on a regular basis. But this was also a time where guys pitched every 2 and 3 days giving them amazing stamina.

Today a pitcher is praised for going six innings. Not many people may know it but there is a stat called a “quality start”. This stat is given to a pitcher after he completes 6 innings while giving up 3 runs or less. If you get praised for something like that why not continue to do that and nothing more, you could save your arm for future starts. Pitch counts are also a huge variable in how long the pitcher will go. In todays game once a pitcher surpasses 100 or so pitches the managers and coaches get the bullpen going. Back in the “good ol days” managers and coaches didn’t care if they even kept track. A pitcher used as many pitches as he needed to get the job done.

You would think that with today’s knowledge more pitchers would throw a complete game more often. With more knowledge about diets, stretches, strategies and workouts pitchers should be more fit than ever to throw a complete game. That does not seem to be the case. In today’s game you have middle relief men, lefty-righty specialists, and closers. If you have two good relief men and a closer why make your starter who is most likely exhausted at that point throw another pitch. If a pitcher shows any sign of slowing down in the later innings of the game he is taken out. Also unless he is at his best when the game is within three runs the closer comes in.

I think that pitchers are very capable of throwing a complete game, there are just better options than having him out there. Most professional hitters have the starter pretty well assessed for his next at bat by the seventh anyway so why not change it up. With technology such as film in the clubhouse below the dugouts and special coaches whose job is only to teach hitting it is just to hard to throw one. Don’t get me wrong it can be done, it will be done, but to many things have to go right in today’s game to get that complete game.

To be honest, I don’t think many pitchers even want to throw complete games, it only tires you and puts more stress on you when you can hand the ball to someone just as good as you and has a fresh arm. In the end what pitcher wants to risk his money making arm on something like a complete game, not many today. That being said, pitchers are capable, very capable. But a pitcher has to have the desire, talent, and stamina to do so, which not many possess.