What 'Failure' Teaches Us?

We are brainwashed in school that failure is bad. But looking back over the course of my baseball career, I found that failure was truly the only path to success. Because with each failure comes the silver lining of knowledge that turns failure into success.

You're going to have bad games, bad weeks, and sometimes straight up bad seasons. I certainly had all three throughout my career.  But with all those failures, I was able to make the right adjustments in my pitching mechanics, to make the right adjustments with my strength training, and to make the right adjustments with my attitude. Ultimately, those failures are what allowed me to earn that baseball scholarship, to get drafted twice, and to have the opportunity to play professional baseball. Those failures led to some of my successes on the pitcher's mound.

Here's my point: Don't be like most people and get upset or lash out when you are forced to think ... when you are forced to look at what you are doing and make adjustments ... or when you have a failure. You must use those opportunities to learn something new -- to grow as a person, and to grow as a baseball pitcher. Trust me, throughout the process of pursuing a career in professional baseball, the road will be long and tough. Very tough. Yet it's through the failures we face that will allow you to succeed.

The only question is, "How will you handle it?" The answer to that question is what separates the great pitchers from the wannabes.