There are good and great baseball players in every town and in every league you will ever play in. So tell me why, when looking back, do you see so very few of them both playing and succeeding at the next level…no matter what level that might be?

I coached a very successful 11-12 year old team some years back. I just took a look at the team photo four years later. There are exactly four players still playing!

I then mentally looked over a particular 14-year old travel team that I was together with for two spring and fall seasons. There are three players still playing. One is a High School senior who is close to an early signing offer with a D1 powerhouse (that’s NCAA Division 1), a second player who should play college ball just ran afoul of the law, which may cost him his senior season (not a bad kid, just some dumb personal decisions), and a third who is only a junior may end up finishing his career as an accomplished High School player or college bound (the jury is still out).

Know that the road to next level success is littered with talented players.

There must be a reason why so few get there though we see talent all around us…even in flashes of kids as young as 7 or 8!

I will gamble that every youth coach could think back, to say, age 12. So, what was the name of that one player that was so head and shoulders above every other player? A little thought and you’ll recall.

And how far did he get? It is amazing how many of them prematurely ended up in what I call “The Oil Business”…you know, pumping gas, flipping burgers or some similar occupation. It just happens…too often…and often avoidably.

A good guy and a knowledgeable 14-year pro I know once told me that some of the best players he ever saw never made it out of “A” Ball (that’s generally the second or third rung on the pro ladder – after rookie ball/instructional leagues, then on to low “A” short season leagues like the NY/Penn League in the Northeast).

Again, there are reasons things happen. Read the following and think how what applies to business success parallels our game too!
Values and Virtues
Ed Hirsch

I will quote Napoleon Hill from the Audio Renaissance Think & Grow Rich:

Be a winner–not a wisher! Be a victor–not a victim!

Everyone desires to be rich, but not everyone knows what constitutes enduring riches. And most people believe riches consist only in material things that money can buy.

Now here is a list of the 12 things that constitute real riches.

• A positive mental attitude … observe that it heads the list.
• Sound physical health.
• Harmony in human relations.
• Freedom from fear.
• The hope of future achievement.
• The capacity for applied faith.
• Willingness to share one’s blessings with others.
• To be engaged in the labor of love.
• An open mind on all subjects toward all people.
• Complete self-discipline.
• Wisdom with which to understand people.
• Financial security.

Observe, if you will, with great benefit, the fact that money comes at the end of the list of the 12 things that make men rich.

Realize that the author was born in poverty, and rose to become one of the world’s most distinguished and respected authors. Inspired by Andrew Carnegie, he became a confidant and advisor to businessmen and presidents. Hill counted among his associates Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and hundreds of other world leaders. It is my understanding that his work is directly responsible for helping to create thousands of millionaires.

Looks like a good starting point for your success.