Bob is Living the Dream.... at 66!

 Listen to and read along with man who is an example for us all... (click play button 2x)

Bob:        Absolutely, Tom.  I appreciate it, thanks.  I really appreciate the opportunity to share my experience with this group.  I’m sixty six years old.  I’ve been in senior softball for approximately seven or eight years.  I’ve played…in my youth, I played up until the time I was twenty four.  I’ve never played softball in my life.  But coming back to the game and I thought I was committed to excellence.  But the harder I tried, it seemed like I always felt short…I always fell short of the fun or the lack of success that I thought I should have. 

I’ve been blessed with good health.  I think I have very good athletic ability, but somehow I just wasn’t getting back from the game that I thought I was putting into it until I found Tom’s program and conditioning.            

You can condition yourself to play well, or at least feel good, but the mental side of it was never really taught to me.  I wasn’t even aware.  I knew, of course, you had to know the game, you had to play…you know, do the basic things.  But the mental conditioning never was part of my agenda. 

And I can tell you right now, through Tom’s program, I’ve only been with it a short time as the last sixteen games I’ve been playing great, I’ve been feeling great.  I’m having the time of my life.  It all starts…to me, it all starts with that commitment, that desire, to be successful and you got to commit to and search for what it is, or what do you need, to make yourself, or bring yourself, to that success level that gives you that return and putting fun into your life. 

Beyond the commitment, it comes…you’ve got to have a plan.  You got to plan to be successful.  Tom’s program gave me the steps for planning my success by developing a routine that’s effective for me.  Clearing out all the uncontrollable variables, leaving me to go A, B, C, D and every time I bat I’m looking for a quality hit.  Every pitch I can concentrate on that pitch and that’s the only thing I know about at the time. It’s been remarkable for me. 

I think in terms of routine, I think everyone has to find that comfort zone where you have a routine, make it simple.  That clears the mind, clears the body. You feel good.  One doesn’t have to…shouldn’t be afraid to experiment a little bit.  Maybe change a routine a little bit and you fine tune it, but then the bottom line is once you’ve done all that you trust yourself.  Once you have your plan…do all those things, you trust yourself and you just let it go.  Let your natural ability take care of it.  And I’m telling you, I’m sold on Tom’s program.  I plan to get better at it.  I plan to use more of it.  As the opportunities come and I get more familiar with it.  Anyway, guys I…

Tom:    What was Bob like the first thing that you got into?  Like what was like a first breakthrough for you?  Or like "ah-ha."  I mean, I always like to hear what people’s ah-has are.

Bob:     One of the things that you brought out is that basically when you get beyond the commitments and all is that the controllable and uncontrollable.  Too often, we get wrapped up in what we can’t control and that just muddies the water for what you really need to focus on and when you do the basic things, you tune out everything.    You got a routine that blocks out everything except what you need to do.  The focusing, the centering, it works. I mean, it’s remarkable it works and when you get your mind to just focus on the few basic things, how…your natural ability comes out.    Again, the trust just allows your natural ability to take over and…

Tom:  Now here’s the question…last question I have for you is that there’s so many people that I talk to are looking to move up a level.  They’re like high school guys looking to get a scholarship, they’re college guys looking to get drafted, they’re younger guys looking to make a team or trying to get a starting position.  You moved up I think a few levels and like how did you do that or what was the key?  What would you say to someone who’s trying to move up a level?

Bob:   Well…

Tom:  What did you do first, I mean, you moved up a couple of levels.

Bob:    Well, first of all, I worked hard at it.  In other words, I got…I borrowed, I invested $2,000.00 in a batting cage and pitching machine and I probably hit five hundred balls a week.  So I got my mechanics down.  Then the same machine would…it didn’t have a backend.  I play second base.  I didn’t have a backend so I had this machine throwing me ground balls till I was wore out.  Just practice, practice, practice. 

But once you have the mechanics down and you’re secure in your ability to do that, it really comes back to the mental side again and again washing away all the distractions and allowing that natural ability and all that hard work to take place.  Just let it flow.

Tom:     Great.  All right, man.  Well, good work.  You’re living the dream. 

Bob:  I am.

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