Had lunch with a great friend, Roger (Rhoades), who’s a 30+/year relationship counselor. Somehow we got on the subject of people who are spectators of life vs. people on the field in the game, and the song “Centerfield” by John Fogerty came up.
The chorus is amazingly insightful to me as an advisor who works with a lot of CEO’s and Pastors to help them build great organizations. I know Fogerty didn’t write it for that purpose, but here’s the chorus:
Oh, put me in, coach – I’m ready to play today;
Put me in, coach – I’m ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be centerfield.
The chorus illustrates 4 great principles that separate dreamers from success stories:
1) Power of the Ask (Put me in, coach!)…
Over the years I’ve marveled at the people who appear less talented, less qualified, less “voted most likely to ____”, yet they got the job, got the TV show, got the dream girl, got the book deal, fulfilled the dream. The difference: At some point, they realized they’d have to be bold, strike the fine balance between humility and confidence, and say “Put me in, coach”…Key word ‘coach’. Are you asking the right person, the person in authority over your opportunity, for the chance to be put in? Telling your friends, complaining to co-workers, asking the wrong people for feedback does no good. At some point, you’ve got to ask for the opportunity, confidently, knowing you may get a “no”. It’s your future, your dream, your life. Wanna have it?
2) Power of Preparation (I’m ready to play!)…
David had to practice throwing a rock with a slingshot for days, months, years…before he got to throw it at Goliath 1 time. Olympians spend every day of their life trying to shave the 1/100th off their time to make the difference between bronze and silver medals. Before your door opens, are you preparing your gifts and talents in private in preparation for them to be on display publicly?
3) Power of Priorities (Today!)…
I never advocate being a workaholic, nor am I suggesting everything happens overnight. However, there are moments we have to recognize that a door is opened, and be keenly aware of its closeability. All doors close eventually, that’s why they’re on hinges. What matters is what side you’re on when it does. When the door opens TODAY, what’s your excuse for waiting until tomorrow to charge through it with a sense of urgency? Oh, it’ll be there tomorrow…I have all these emails to catch up on before I make the call…I can’t possibly pick up and fly to New York just for a lunch…Well? Why NOT today? What guarantee do you have the door will be open tomorrow? After all, why would God open it today, if you weren’t supposed to move toward it today?
4) Power of knowing who you are vs. what you do (I can BE centerfield!).
The amazing part of that lyric (the part I always thought was bad grammar), an awkward ending to a chorus…I never caught it in 20+ years until now…he said “BE” instead of “play” centerfield.
Your gift, the thing inside you that’s uniquely you and opens doors of opportunity for your future…is in you because of who you are, not what you do. Great jobs, relationships, and other opportunities rarely come to you as a result of what you do, they usually come to you because of who you are.
He knew he loved baseball, and could play a lot of positions. But the one he was born for…was centerfield. Middle of the action. The one that required the guy with the best speed, the best arm, the best sense of the game to be counted on to cover the most ground and save the day the most times up against the wall.
Great success stories are great because they didn’t ask for ANY job, they asked for a chance at “the” job. THE relationship. THE internship. THE chance. They asked for it because they knew it was in them, it was what they were born to do, and it was who they were.
