My Mom was a huge Minnesota Twins baseball fan. I remember her proudly waving her “Homer Hanky” when they won the World Series in ’87 and ’91. Kirby Puckett was her favorite player.
A lot has changed since then. Mom is no longer with us and the MN Twins, well…
They lost their 18th consecutive playoff game this week, which means they have the longest postseason losing streak of ANY team in ANY sport, EVER.
Now, 18 games might not sound like much, but if you understand baseball, you know that losing that many games consecutively (dating all the way back to 2004) is practically impossible.
Even if you don’t play well, you’ll probably come across a team that’s playing worse on a given night…or you’ll luck your way into a win somewhere along the way.
Nope, not us. Not for the last 16 years.
How would you interpret this?
In the athletic world, you’d probably call it a “slump,” right?
Slump: A downturn in performance; a sudden severe or prolonged fall in the price, value or amount of something.
But, what if you interpreted the data differently?
Dave Winfield, hall of fame baseball player, refused to ever acknowledge that he was in a slump. Even if his numbers were down, he defined it as “an opportunity for growth,” or “a period of statistical adjustment.”
Your 2020 business numbers might be down right now (as a speaker, I’ll admit that mine are!) but what is going to motivate you more to wake up and work your butt off to get out of it: interpreting what’s happening as a slump or interpreting it as an opportunity / period of adjustment?
The former makes me not want to get out of bed. The latter makes me believe better times are ahead.
In every speech I give, I mention the foundation of performance psychology:
Thoughts affect feelings. Feelings affect behaviors. Behaviors affect results.
Want better results? Start with your thoughts (i.e., your interpretation). You can’t have one without the other.
And Minnesota Twins, I’m sticking with you. My Mom always said I was a “glutton for punishment” 🙂
Keep Outperforming,
