Timeless Development

It’s crazy how we think that we can’t develop a certain skill or develop into the athletes we want to become. We have this idea that others might be more “talented” then us or just have the skills “naturally”. We get frustrated when we haven’t mastered a particular skill by a particular time which may leads us to believe that “we suck” or that we just don’t possess the talents that we need to accomplish our goal. But really what is talent? Someone who is more “talented” is really someone who is farther along in their development of a particular skill than someone else at an equal or earlier age. But does this mean that you can’t achieve the same level of performance by continually developing your own skills? Is it true that you are limited by genetics, environment, or whatever or is it just that you believe you are because of your own self imposed perception of time?

You see that’s all time is, a perception. Time is man made, created by our need to count and categorize things but reality is that time doesn’t exist. Our frustrations as athletes and our belief in our own “talent” is nothing more then a product of our ego. Our ego’s desire to compare ourselves to others creates in us a false idea or our own skills and abilities. We look at others, at their skill level at a particular age and assume that this equals their “talent”. We place time constraints on ourselves and others believing that we must have mastered a particular level of proficiency over a particular skill by a particular time otherwise we “just don’t have it”. We do it all the time in our daily lives. We believe that by a particular age you must do this, and by that age you must have done that. All the while the ones who haven’t gotten there yet feel bad about who they are and are flooded with negative thoughts and emotions that only hinder their further development. The same is true in sports. In baseball our attachment to time (in particular age) has us comparing ourselves to other players of the same age and if we aren’t as far along in our skill development we then begin to label ourselves and our abilities, get flooded with negative thoughts and emotions, and overall inhibit our growth and development as athletes not to mention our overall enjoyment of the sport.

We see it all the time in the draft or when it comes to moving our way up the professional ranks. Scouts and coaches see someone who is farther along at an earlier age and immediately define that person as more talented. That person is then promoted with the belief that “if he is this far along now where will he be in a few years?” But, how many times does that really play out the way we think? How many athletes have you seen whose numbers get a lot better over the course of their careers? For the most part most athletes stay the same year in and year out. Where someone who continues to develop themselves will probably end up being a better player down the road but the problem is they never get the chance. It’s important to understand that in order to reach the level of performance you desire to reach it takes a “kaizen” approach. An approach where your focus is timeless and you don’t stress about where you are currently but rather embrace where you are currently with and eye on where you want to go.

Understand that time is an illusion that we have created and that talent is nothing more than skill development at a given time. So if time is an illusion then so is talent. When we put time to things this creates frustration and negativity if we are not at a certain spot in our development by a particular time. We believe that just because we haven’t mastered a particular skill by a particular time then that means that we can’t learn or master that skill.

We can master any skill by consistent, deliberate practice. We limit ourselves and what we can achieve by putting time limits on ourselves and believing that we have to be so good by a certain time. Imagine how must faster we will master a skill if we focus on the timeless and avoid the negative thoughts and emotions that come with perceived talent and perceived time. The master athlete embraces the timeless knowing that time is an illusion. By staying in the moment, allowing yourself to be where you are, deliberately practicing toward what you intend to create you will achieve mastery over that particular skill. You will then become the athlete you desire to be regardless of how many sunsets you have witnessed.

Why is this important in baseball? The timeless athlete avoids frustration and negativity because he isn’t comparing himself to others. His focus is on the continual, never ending development of his body and mind. Therefore he learns quicker, performs better, and ultimately becomes the best athlete on the field regardless of where he started from. If you want to reach the highest levels you must embrace the idea of timelessness and understand that through continuous, deliberate practice you can become anything you desire to be.