Thread by @SahilBloom

I think a lot about lessons I learned on the field and how they apply to business and life.

Here’s an important one on mistakes and focus:

In college, the pitchers had to log how many “compound mistakes” we made in a game.

A “mistake” was a walk, hit batter, or error. Basically something where you—or the team—screwed up.

A “compound mistake” occurred if you failed to get the next batter out following a mistake.

When you look at the data, it turns out it’s hard to give up a lot of runs if you avoid compound mistakes.

The takeaway is simple: leave the past mistake in the past and focus on getting the next batter out.

That’s what’s in your control—that’s what impacts the outcome.

After the game, you can zoom out, look at the mistakes, and determine a path to correcting them.

But in the game, you have to focus on the present and making the next pitch as perfect as possible.

You need to have an uncommon focus.

Years later I realized how relevant this was for business and life.

You’re going to make a lot of mistakes—shit happens.

But your outcomes are ultimately determined by how you bounce back. By whether or not you made the next pitch. By whether or not you got the next better out.

The best in the world share a few common traits:

On a micro scale (in the game):
• They do make mistakes
• They don’t compound mistakes

On a macro scale (after the game):
• They learn from the mistakes

If you develop those traits, you will win.

I thought this was neat and worth sharing. I hope you learn something from it.

I might start sharing more of these lessons over time. Follow me @SahilBloom if you enjoy them!