Getting Dirty Means Nothing if You Don't Touch Home Plate
While cheering on my son and his team, the Lightening Bolts, at a t-ball game this morning, I watched youngster after youngster slide in for a home run. I enjoyed seeing how they loved sliding in the dirt. Almost without exception, when they finished a slide, they looked at their pants to assess the dirt stain. The bigger and more messy the stain, the happier they seemed to be with their efforts.
Each boy slid home, but hardly any of them touched home plate in the process. Instead, they slid dramatically across the dirt in the direction of home plate, stood to their feet, celebrated, checked out their dirt stain and started to walk away. The coach had to tell them to come back and touch home plate. Pointing proudly to his dirt stain, one boy responded, “But I was already over there. I did that already.” The coach reminded him that, while he slid toward home plate, he didn't actually touch home plate. The boy went back and touched home plate with the tip of his cleat.
What the boys learned from the coach is critical. Until you touch home plate, you can still get called out. You can work as hard as you can and kick up all the dust in the world, but if you don't touch home plate, it means nothing.
Don't just wallow and slide around in your business getting dirty. Set up your home plates and then make progress toward them. You'll get pretty messy and beat up along the way, but none of that means anything if you don't actually reach your goals.
In business, you'll have not just one home plate, but a series of them. That you slid toward them means nothing. That you got dirty in the process may be praiseworthy but in the end, results far outweigh intentions. It's important that you worked hard. But what matters most is that you got to home plate, and you actually touched it.
What about you?
What are you doing today to slide toward your home plate? Share your goals and what you are doing to reach them, and don't forget to include your website or blog link so we can learn more.
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