I hesitated about writing a post about Derek Jeter because hey:
- I don't follow baseball
- everyone else is writing about Jeter
- I wouldn't want you to think Derek told me his secret to me in person #heehee
Despite my reservations, I could not resist writing about something I read about Derek Jeter this weekend in The New York Times. In discussing how overwhelming his feelings have been during the last few weeks of his career, he said, “I have 'em, I try to hide them. I try to trick myself and convince myself that I'm not feeling those particular emotions, whether its nerves, whether I'm injured, pain. I just try to trick myself I don't have it.” When I read this quote, I was struck by the beauty of it. I'm all with Derek. It's important to have your feelings, but it is also important to develop a practice of making sure your feelings do not get in your way.
Procrastinators suffer when we get overcome by our feelings of:
- doubt
- frustration
- fear
- confusion
- ambivalence
- wanting to control our outcomes
- hysteria
- being less capable than our opponents
So this is where Derek teaches us again (via another New York Times piece): “I think that's where people get in trouble, when they start complicating things. It's really not that complicated. The more complicated you make it, the more difficult it is on you. You're playing a game where you fail more than you succeed. You've got to try to keep it as simple as possible.” I really got the sense from this quote that he was speaking to US and not just to struggling baseball rookies. Derek reminds us to strip our purpose to the essentials and to be wary of anything that might prevent us from seeing that purpose clearly.
This is what the greats tend to do. They work really (unbelievably) hard at their practice, and leave us thinking they make it look easy.
Here's the Jeter Take-away for you:
- Be present in the moment and feel your feelings.
- Challenge the feelings that threaten to take you away from your purpose.
- Preserve your capacity to focus.
- Don't complicate your life.
- Remember what is essential in the game you are playing.
- We can all be champions.
Thanks, Mr. November. Best wishes to you.
Registration is still open for a few more days for the Procrastination Coach October Workout Group. Let me know if you'd like more information about it. I'd love to work with you.
