4 LESSONS FROM A GREAT THROW TO THIRD BASE

A major league baseball pitcher practices endlessly for over a decade to be able to place a fastball on an imaginary dime-sized spot just above home plate 60 feet and 6 inches away.  An error of only 1° will place the ball off target, but it still may be close enough to be a strike.  

On the other hand, a right fielder may have to make a throw  from 240 feet or further to throw out a runner at third base.  The same 1° error causes his throw to be off target by 4 FEET!  That's not just the difference between safe and out, it could be the difference in win or lose!

Interesting, but what lessons can we take from this for our everyday lives?  Here are four lessons that I think we can take from this video.

1.  PERFECTION IS ATTAINABLE
     Of course, people who say, "nobody's perfect" are technically correct.  Francoeur didn't make this perfect throw every single time he threw to third base, but he did it more than most major leaguers.  The key is that he was PERFECT in far more instances than most people.  The relentless pursuit of perfection will give us moments where we are perfect.  The more perfect moments we can stack up over time, the further we separate ourselves from those who settle for "nobody's perfect."

2.  HOW BIG YOUR ERROR IS DEPENDS ON HOW FAR AWAY YOUR TARGET IS
      If your goal is to save $100, and you spend 5% frivolously, as you approach your goal, you will have to find a way to make up the $5.  Not the best outcome but not disheartening, either.  If your goal is to save $1 million for retirement, but along the way you squander the same 5%, you will find yourself scrambling to make up $50,000 in a hurry.  

3.  LITTLE IMPROVEMENTS ADD UP TO BIG SUCCESS
      What's not immediately obvious in the video is all the smaller parts of the play BESIDES the throw that added up to Francoeur's success.  Francoeur practiced for  countless hours fielding ground balls, transitioning as quickly as possible from the fielding position to the throwing position, getting the ball from the glove to the throwing hand, his windup, his arm position, and his release point based on the throwing distance, not to mention quickly ascertaining if the ball will arrive at it's target faster by throwing directly to the base or relaying the throw through the cutoff man.  Any deviation from perfect in any of these steps changes the outcome of the play.  In life and in business, we have to envision our ultimate goal, then break down each of the steps it will take to get there.  Then, we must pursue perfection in each of the steps until others marvel at how it seems to come easy for us.

4.  SUCCESS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT
      Success takes work.  Not just a little work when it's convenient.  Success takes hard work and consistent pursuit of perfection in every detail, every day.   Francouer never stopped practicing to stay sharp and even improve just because he was perceived as being as close to perfect as one could get.  The best investor in the world, Warren Buffet, never stops studying and is always trying to improve.  It's not about greed, it's about a relentless pursuit of his passion.  There's never a good time to stop improving and start cruising.