“Good, better, best…

… Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.” – St. Jerome

My son, Ethan, is really, really into baseball. I know every parent of every baseball kid ever has said that, but this is different. Given the choice to go outside and throw or play video games, it’s baseball. When asked what do you want to watch on TV, the answer is always baseball. He can tell you who is good and who is slumping. He knows players in the MLB that I have never ever heard of. We always offer him to choose what sports he wants to play and he keeps coming back to baseball. As part of that, about a year ago, he began taking thirty minute lessons once a week at a local facility from a man we affectionately call Coach Doug. And to give you some more context, Ethan is a very sensitive and compassionate kid. He cares very much about what others think of him and wants to be the best at everything he does. I keep telling him that he just needs the best “him” he can be and that it is physically impossible to be the best at everything… after all, life quickly teaches us there is always someone a little bigger, faster, stronger or smarter, right? So, giving you that glimpse of Ethan, he normally will leave a really good practice or game wanting his play to be confirmed and validated. The dad in me plays along with it because I love my son and want him to love baseball to build his confidence but the coach in me always wants to be instructing and critiquing and helping him to become better. I try to always let dad side win in the moment and save my criticisms for the next practice or a better opportunity so that I don’t spoil his moments. I’m not always successful, but I do try. In addition to everything I’ve fed you so far about Ethan, is that he has been working on learning to be a catcher. For those of you not versed in either baseball or softball, the catching position is a very difficult one on the baseball field. Baseball in itself is a very difficult and technical game which is not only physically tough but is very mentally strenuous as well. Playing the position of catcher takes that up to a whole other level. It is dirty, hot, hard and, most times, thankless (a good catcher’s job is to make his pitcher look good). It is very technical and hard to learn, however, I have often heard many coaches say that a catcher can make or break a team.

All that being said, Ethan did some catching work at his lesson and did quite well. As we were walking out, I patted him on the back and told him he did a really good job. His response was not typical of an eight year old, especially him, and, hopefully, was indicative of a perspective shift within him that left me speechless.

He said, “I think I did pretty good… but I’m going to keep getting better!”

I think we can all learn a life lesson from that little nugget. When we are complacent or we get too comfortable in what we are doing, we become vulnerable to mediocrity. Whether it is in our jobs, as spouses or as parents, we should always strive to be better than the person we were the day before. If we pick one or two things that we didn’t do as well the previous day or week and focus on those, we can be a better person tomorrow. By saying this, I am not saying that you should always focus on your short comings and dwell in negative thought. In fact, this pathway would be totally contrary to what needs to be done as it will leave us idle and miserable. What I am talking about is positive growth… the day to day steps that leave us reaching a little higher and running a little farther. Every runner that has ever gone from “couch to 5K” will tell you that they did not just wake up one day, lace up some running shoes and go run just over three miles because they wanted to. No! They started by running a little… then a little more… and a little more until one day they could do it. That is the same approach we have to take in all aspects of our lives.

The number one enemy in our marriages and our families is complacency. The number one enemy in our workplaces is settling for mediocrity. So… make a decision today to be a better employee. On your way home from work tomorrow, make a choice to be a better parent and spouse. And by making a decision, don’t just give it a flippant thought… make an actual, actionable choice about what you are going to do better that day. It’s easy to say I need to be a better employee in your head. But what the heck are you ACTUALLY going to do to get there? Think of specific things that will make you better. Specific, actionable tasks. And then make a commitment to yourself to follow through and do them.

Bit by bit, little by little, we can become better than we were yesterday… even if we did pretty good there is always room for improvement. And as we do that, not only will we become happier and more productive, but we will also make those around us better and we will make the world a little bit better place.