Life Is Yours to Win: Lessons Forged From the Purpose, Passion, and Magic of Baseball by Augie Garrido

Author:Augie Garrido [Garrido, Augie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Sports, Sports & Recreation, Baseball, General, Self-Help, Personal Growth, self-esteem
ISBN: 9781439186954
Google: CSJqZTpumLYC
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2011-05-10T23:56:53.679262+00:00

FAKING IT

One more key characteristic distinguishes prospects from players in sports and in life. Prospects can fake it for a while, but sooner or later they stop showing up. They may say all the right things and may even excel up to a point or in flashes, but if their hearts aren’t in it, the rest of them will eventually withdraw. They are not committed because they are in the game to please someone else, or they’ve simply burned through the oil that keeps great athletes going, the love of competition.

All prospects must be team players if they are to succeed beyond signing day. This point is often lost on those grooming their children or themselves for careers as professional athletes. The same situation occurs in many other realms. You load up on expectations and goals, piling up points for the résumé to build your brand, but then when it comes time to be a producer instead of a prospect, you hit a wall. As we say in Texas, you are all hat, no cattle. You’ve got the résumé and the grooming, but you are not ready for prime time. You are not fully engaged or committed.

Even worse, the pure prospect generally comes equipped with a certificate of entitlement stamped DESERVE RESPECT. Yet, the game, like life itself, respects no one. It is equally cruel whether you were ranked number one among Little League catchers or you held no rank at all. The same is true of the cold, cruel world, where the only respect you get is that which you earn. Prospects get no automatic props. Players earn respect through commitment.

Attitude is critical. No one owes you a shot. So, my advice is to forget the packaging and go with your passion. You can’t be so focused on outcomes and attaining position or prestige that you have no emotion invested, no juice in the game, no enthusiasm or joy for doing what you do.

My father was a child of the Depression years and was convinced that work and play were the north and south poles. They never met. Work was work. Fun was what you did after work. He hated his job. He had no idea that you could make a living doing something that you actually enjoyed. I figured that out early on and went with it, much to his dismay.

As much as Dad hated working at the shipyards, he wanted me to work there too. I don’t think he was misery and I was company; I think he just didn’t believe there was any other way. He couldn’t understand why I didn’t jump at the opportunity to join him in the shipyards. He’d shown me a path I didn’t want to take, especially after I thought I’d found a better one.

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