In our last +1, we talked about the fact that batting .300 over the course of your Major League Baseball career gets you in the Hall of Fame. Today we’re going to continue the baseball metaphor. Pop quiz for baseball fans: You know how many perfect games have EVER been thrown?! (For those who may not know, a perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball (via Wikipedia) as “a game in which a pitcher (or combination of pitchers) pitches for a victory [in a game] that lasts a minimum of nine innings in which no opposing player reaches base.”) So… Get this: According to Wikipedia, Major League Baseball has been around for 140 years. Over 210,000 (!) games have been played. And only 23 (!) perfect games have ever been pitched. And… No player has ever thrown more than one perfect game. 140 years. 210,000 (!) games. Only 23 perfect games. And NO pitcher has ever done it twice. Yet you and I want to have perfect lives. (Hahahahahhaha!) I’m also reminded of John Wooden. He was all about GOING for perfection but only doing so KNOWING we’ll never actually get it! Here’s how he puts it: “Perfection is what you are striving for, but perfection is an impossibility. However, striving for perfection is not an impossibility. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts.” (Sounds a lot like our Guiding Stars and Distant Shores, eh?) You know what else Wooden said? This: “When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens—and when it happens, it lasts.” (Sounds a lot like our Optimize +1s, eh?) And, one more Wooden gem (all of these are from his book called Wooden, btw): “Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort? That’s what matters. The rest of it just gets in the way.” Today’s +1. Let’s make our best effort. Let’s “seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens—and when it happens, it lasts.” +1. +1. +1.
