Your whole life someone has been telling you to keep your œeye on the ball. This is the mantra for consistent performance. Consider that maybe keeping your eye on the ball is insufficient to accomplish your intentions.

Michael Lewis, in his best-seller, œMoneyballmakes this point”keep only the statistics that have an influence on winning. Baseball is a game that attracts œstatistic junkies.” Too much time between actions leads to œMUS (Making Up Shit). The great hitter, Ted Williams said it this way”Keep your eye on the seams of the ball. Now you are zeroed in.

So what are the seams of the ball in every day life? What are the elements of a foundation for effective performance? Please do not look at what I have to say like its the TRUTH. Try it on. Wear it around. See what you see.

In building anything, we need a solid foundation. What is it that allows us to perform at a high level when we clearly do see the œseams of the ball? I think it goes something like this:

CERTAINTY”CLEAR PURPOSE + FULLY ACKNOWLEDGING ONES
CIRCUMSTANCES WITHOUT JUDGEMENT

APPROPRIATE ACTION”ACTIONS THAT CLEARLY FORWARD THE
FULFILLMENT OF THE PURPOSE

COMPLETION”COMPLETIONS OCCUR ALL ALONG THE WAY. ITS
NOT JUST ABOUT THE END RESULT.

ACCOMPLISHMENT”EVEN THE SMALLEST STEP COMPLETED GIVES
A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

SATISFACTION”IF WE DONT EXPERIENCE SATISFACTION ON A
REGULAR BASIS WE WILL LOSE INTEREST IN OUR
PURPOSE.

CERTAINTY”WE HAVENT JUST CIRCLED BACK TO WHERE WE WERE.
WE ARE AT THE NEXT LEVEL. WEVE GROWN.
Lets look at the seams of this ball.

Certainty”Its simple. If you want to be insane or keep your team insane, keep them uncertain. People can handle bad news better than no news.

Appropriate Action”Be bold. Be decisive. Most of the time you need to move things around to be able to see whats next.

Completions”even a baby step qualifies. What action was taken? What was the result? What did we learn? Who needs to be acknowledged for their contributions?

Accomplishment and Satisfaction”The rewards of being complete.

Now we are back to certainty and the beat goes on as we gather momentum. When you hit a roadblock, take a timeout to check where you are, then ask yourself, œWhats Missing? Put that in and go again.

œThe Art of Losing:, Coaching Athletics and Thriving in a Made-for-TV World” is Coach Todds latest book. You can find it on-line at lulu.com.