Alex Rodriguez spoke on Ed Mylett’s podcast. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9kKEkA-zvE
Takeaways:
– Alex is all about process. He believes that if you do the little things and stack the little wins consistently (=work ethic), and see them as the big wins – over time they add up to great skill and achievements. The great achievements are not in your control – the little wins are. Don’t think so big, think about the little steps. He says that he is most proud about the fact that in all his 25 years of playing professional baseball, he never once missed his pre-game preparation session. That’s his proudest achievement.
It reminds me of Will Smith who said that to build a great wall, just focus on laying that one brick as well as you can and celebrate yourself for doing it.
– Related to #1, he says that fundamentals are the key to being great at something, and that it’s THE THING that made him a great player. He also mentions Kobe Bryant, who once said that he never gets bored of the basics.
– He “lives and dies by his list”. If he has say 10 small things to do/actions to take in a day, he will just do them and check them off one by one and that his his way of feeling good.
– He says the word ‘no’ doesn’t mean “a damn thing” to him – it is “the greatest vitamin, energizer anyone could give him.” It just tells him to work that much harder and reminds him of where he came from. It shows that he is one step closer to the biggest yes they need.
– He is 5th all time in strikeouts – which means there are only 4 people in history who have been struck out more than him. He says many people ignore that fact and focus on his great successes. As long as he kept ‘winning’ at doing his best and stacking the small wins every day, the end result didn’t matter as much.
Essentially:
- Be self-aware.
- Figure out what are the small things you need to do to become great at your craft/profession.
- Do those small things religiously and celebrate your small wins, because they ARE the big wins!
- When people say no, it’s just a vitamin. As long as you’re doing your best, it just brings you closer to yes. It’s a numbers game that you can win as long as you win the little wins.
