Are you David Ortiz?
Heard of David Ortiz?
So I’m sure you’ve all heard of David Ortiz before, right? Big Papi. He’s the face of the Boston Red Sox organization and one of the most prolific power hitters in all of Major League Baseball. He is beloved by fans, feared by opposing pitchers and one of the highest paid hitters in MLB. Over the last several years he has been one of the most consistent leaders in Home Runs, RBI’s and batting average. In short, he is at the top of his game and within his industry he is considered one of the best. Now you might be asking yourself, what does this mean to me? Great question… I’ll get to that in a minute. But first, let’s take a closer look at batting average.
For those of you who know nothing about baseball, a player’s batting average is a way to determine how successful a batter is when they step up to the plate. Basically the statisticians calculate how many times a batter gets a hit out of 1000 attempts. A typical batting average would be .250. Meaning, if a player got up to bat 1000 times they would successfully get a hit 250 of those times. An above average player has a .280 batting average (280 hits out of 1000 times at bat). A less successful hitter (and a guy who you hopefully didn’t draft for your fantasy baseball team) would hit somewhere in the low .200’s. David Ortiz on the other hand is currently batting .304. And yes, his .304 batting average puts him well above the average player and amongst the league leaders.
What Does David Ortiz’s Batting Average Have To Do With My Success?
Now you might be wondering what does David Ortiz’s batting average have to do with my success as a network marketer. First, let’s look a little bit deeper into Ortiz’s .304 batting average (let’s just call it .300 to make things easier). As I’ve already mentioned, David Ortiz gets up to bat and successfully gets a hit 300 out of 1000 times or 3 out of 10 times. Three out of every ten times he steps up to the plate he is successful. Or, seven out of every ten times he steps up to the plate he fails. Maybe it’s a strike out. Maybe an innocent pop out. Perhaps he rips a line drive into the 3rd baseman’s glove. But the fact of the matter is David Ortiz fails to get a hit seven out of every ten chances he steps up the plate. And he widely considered one of the best at what he does.
Let’s look at this if Ortiz were a network marketer. If Ortiz had ten leads to call he would fail seven out of every ten times he made a call. Maybe he got a voice mail, left a message and never heard back. Maybe he got through to the lead but they were already involved in too many other businesses to take Ortiz’s opportunity seriously. Perhaps, Ortiz stepped up to bat, called that lead and it was someone trying to recruit him into their primary business. Whatever the scenario, you have more in common with David Ortiz than you think.
The Success of David Ortiz
One of the keys to Ortiz’s success is his ability to separate one at bat from the next. He strikes out in the first inning, he forgets about it, and then gets back up to bat in the third inning. Ortiz and other successful marketers have to employ a short term memory. They are able to compartmentalize one at bat from another. One lead from the next.
You and Ortiz both have the opportunity each day to step up to the plate and either succeed or fail. It’s how you respond to those failures that will separate you from being a .200 hitter who I would be pissed off if you were in my fantasy line up, or you could be .300 or better hitter who is considered one of the best in the industry. The choice is yours. Step up to the plate, fail seven out ten times, and become one of the best in your industry.
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