Take your swings
Rigging the game
I am going to tell you a secret. Winning is simple, but it is not easy. Do you have the nuts to do just four things?
(1) Play your game
You have to be playing the right game. The game that you are uniquely qualified to play.
If you aren’t playing your game, no amount of will or skill will get you to the promised land. You can’t compete with people who are having fun. Your job is to figure out which game makes time disappear for you.
The most empowering thing I can tell you is that you can play whatever game you want. You get to choose the ruleset that is an exact match for your zone of genius. No one has the set of life experiences that you do. Billions of permutations of events happened creating the being you are today. No one can outcompete you at being you.
Now, I agree with you that you aren’t going to win at being a professional baseball player, that ship has sailed. Neither am I (sorry 10 year old me). But could you make a living creating the best data model for first basemen? Could you build an audience being a youtuber documenting Mexican baseball league stadium experiences? You can if your heart desires. And who are you competing against? Who is crazy enough to bring your unique dream to reality?
(2) Believe you are destined to win
Imagine that you get to play in the MLB except you could choose the rules. My rules are that any contact from a wasian bald bro is a home run. You don’t think I could win that game? That’s how unfair life is in your favor. You get to cheat. Choose the right game and the game will be rigged in your favor.
So believe you are destined to win. Believe in your path. Believe in yourself. Take a leap of faith.
(3) View failure as progress
People like to say progress isn’t linear. I disagree. Output isn’t linear, but progress is.
Whatever your end goal is, with every attempt, your output either gets closer to it, or your failure teaches you something that builds you up better for your next attempt.
You strike out. Cool. Now you know what that pitch looks like. You know exactly where your swing broke down. That information didn’t exist in your head five minutes ago. You got rejected from the job. Great, now you know which part of your story isn’t landing. You launched the thing and crickets. No problem. Now you know what the market cares about instead of what you assumed.
Win or learn. Either way it’s progress. It is impossible to go backwards if you are paying attention.
(4) Maximize your at bats
Once you are in the right game and mentally ready for the journey ahead of you, the obvious strategy is to maximize your at bats. Enough thinking, start swinging.
The hard part is that you have no idea whether you’re 10 or 1,000 swings away from winning. Somewhere along the way, the voice in your head starts whispering that maybe you’re not good enough.
At that moment, the only difference between winners and losers is whether you have the courage to keep going. Keep failing. Keep learning. Keep stepping up to the plate knowing you are one step closer to destiny. Your dream is on the other side of 1,000 failures.
Find your game. Take your swings.