Going on Offense

I loved watching my son play baseball in his youth. At the same time it was one of the most stressful things to watch — especially when he was pitching. As a parent, every possibility ran through my head. What would happen if the other team started hitting his pitches all over the park? Will he be OK emotionally? Will his immature, pre-teen teammates remain supportive if things go badly?

At the end of the game, win or lose, everything almost always turned out fine because there was going to be the post-game ice cream treat. It’s kind of like optimism that way. For kids, ice cream is among the most awesome outcomes!

It got me thinking about Optimism and the Agile Best Self North Star work Michaele and I have done with many people this year through our workshops. Working from the earlier definition of optimism — if we knew who we really are, expressed through our North Star AND there was something good about to happen, wouldn’t that be an environment for going after things in life that maybe today are just outside our reach?

Agile Best Self Principle #5: Create a best self environment of motivation, trust, and support for yourself and others.

I think this is what we were thinking when we thought about what because Agile Best Self Principle 5.

As we wrap up this year like no other, what can we do to set ourselves up to take some home run swings next year? In baseball, that is the ultimate offense — being able to hit it out of the park. It takes a lot to be able to do that, not the least of which is clarity of who we are, but a belief that something amazing is about to occur.

While you are thinking about this, I hope you can enjoy an ice cream treat as well.

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