Parallels between NCAA Athlete and Founder
Career Building
I like to think that I have an edge over other entrepreneurs, especially ones my age, because I've already built a career. For the last 11 years, I worked my way to the elite levels of baseball, and had I not torn my UCL last year, I would be doing it professionally today. In the post below, I'll quickly go over what I see as the key parallels between athlete and entrepreneur.
1% Better
Kaizen– the Japanese practice of continuous improvement.
1% better each day compounded is 3800% better each year
This is the philosophy that was instilled in me over the years of practices, lifts, and extra sessions. I think Kaizen works on your best days and your worst days– Today,I feel great, all I needed is 1% put I think I'll go for 2 or Today kinda sucks, but all I need is 1%, I can do that. It also gives you room to step back– We went 1% in the wrong direction today, no big deal, we'll just go 1% in the right today.
Winning
How you do anything is how you do everything
The people who know me best know that I care about winning, and I hate losing. It's a blessing and a curse really– On the one hand, I'm successful in a lot of capacities and can be proud of a lot of things I've done. On the other hand, I can be relentless to the point of recklessness and have worked on taking the loss when it's time.
Team
I know what it's like to go to war with my team– There's success and failure. People have good days and we should celebrate them. People have bad days and it's up to the rest of us to pick them up.
In the face of impossible
I'm very comfortable working everyday towards an impossible goal
Getting to professional sports is statistically impossible. There are so few spots on an MLB roster and millions of kids vying for them. Logically, trying to become a professional athlete doesn't make any sense.
Being an elite athlete, like being a startup founder, requires irrational optimism
Somehow you just have to convince yourself it's not just possible, it's destiny. Until about a year ago, I never considered the idea that I wasn't capable of pitching in the MLB one day.
Parallels between NCAA Athlete and Founder
Career Building
I like to think that I have an edge over other entrepreneurs, especially ones my age, because I've already built a career. For the last 11 years, I worked my way to the elite levels of baseball, and had I not torn my UCL last year, I would be doing it professionally today. In the post below, I'll quickly go over what I see as the key parallels between athlete and entrepreneur.
1% Better
Kaizen– the Japanese practice of continuous improvement.
1% better each day compounded is 3800% better each year
This is the philosophy that was instilled in me over the years of practices, lifts, and extra sessions. I think Kaizen works on your best days and your worst days– Today,I feel great, all I needed is 1% put I think I'll go for 2 or Today kinda sucks, but all I need is 1%, I can do that. It also gives you room to step back– We went 1% in the wrong direction today, no big deal, we'll just go 1% in the right today.
Winning
How you do anything is how you do everything
The people who know me best know that I care about winning, and I hate losing. It's a blessing and a curse really– On the one hand, I'm successful in a lot of capacities and can be proud of a lot of things I've done. On the other hand, I can be relentless to the point of recklessness and have worked on taking the loss when it's time.
Team
I know what it's like to go to war with my team– There's success and failure. People have good days and we should celebrate them. People have bad days and it's up to the rest of us to pick them up.
In the face of impossible
I'm very comfortable working everyday towards an impossible goal
Getting to professional sports is statistically impossible. There are so few spots on an MLB roster and millions of kids vying for them. Logically, trying to become a professional athlete doesn't make any sense.
Being an elite athlete, like being a startup founder, requires irrational optimism
Somehow you just have to convince yourself it's not just possible, it's destiny. Until about a year ago, I never considered the idea that I wasn't capable of pitching in the MLB one day.