Are you an every day guy?

Do you set goals?

Do they motivate you?

Do you follow through with them?

On a recent episode of the Daily Stoic podcast, Ryan Holiday talks about the fact that he doesn’t set goals.

What?

A guy who has written 12 best-selling books in the last 10 years doesn’t focus on outcomes!?

What motivates him then?

He says that doing the thing (writing) is the win for him.

It’s not about the outcome like the number of books he sells or, for us, scoring hundreds, or being not out when the winning runs for your team are hit.

It’s the idea that he can focus on doing the thing, but he can’t control how many other good writers have produced top quality books at the same time as his, he can’t control what the economy is doing and how much disposable income his audience has.

He argues that the fixation on external results that aren’t within your control carries a hidden cost. It consumes time and energy that could be better used on doing the thing.

So, for you and your batting – what does success looks like for you?

A certain number of runs for the season? A certain number of hundreds? Being selected for a certain team?

Ryan’s idea is that your focus should remain on the process – getting to training, hitting a number of balls that you’re content with, practicing a specific shot, stretch/mobility every day, visualising twice a week etc.

Finding joy in the day to day is the aim and also the challenge.

The outcomes are a bonus.

Immerse yourself in the craft.

This is not something I ever found possible until it was evident that I was no longer going to play more professional cricket.

These days it’s all about the love of the craft.

And… what a surprise: I’m scoring runs more consistently.

Buzz Williams, the immensely successful American college basketball coach, believes in being an ‘every day guy.’

“The best thing we do is every day. The hardest thing we do is every day. All that (success at the end of the season) proves is who’s an every day guy. If you’re not an every day guy, it doesn’t mean we love you less. It just means you’re going to have to sit over there on the side.”

What does it mean to be an every day guy?

‘Are you tough enough to be an every day guy? Whatever it is that you deem success, are you tough enough to do it every day. Talent at some point in time probably will prevail but not always. So, if you remove talent, then it becomes consistency, discipline, how you’re spending your time and doing these things every day.’

‘Hey, I can’t shoot. Well, it’s like compound interest. Just shoot then. I wanna get stronger. Well, go in there and lift weights.”

Williams believes in consistency and persistence. Hang in there and do the right things and over a long period of time, the cream will rise to the top.

Ryan Holiday goes a step further:

“A lot of people want to be the noun. They don’t want to do the verb.”

“People want to publish books. They don’t want to write books. Publishing is a by-product of writing. Improving is a by-product of doing the work.”

Williams puts it succinctly:

“So much of what you’re being praised for publicly is whatever it is that you’re doing privately.”

So, what is it that you’re doing today that’s going to give you the best chance of success in your next innings?