Major League University sent a tweet out last week saying,
“Apply micro speed & macro patience to your goals…
Every. Single. Day.”
What did this mean?
Let’s look at an example in baseball. Say that you’re a pitcher and you have set a goal in the off-season to increase your velocity by 5mph come opening day. Opening day is three months away. Roughly ninety days. That is ninety, 24hr, opportunities. Every single day, for ninety days, you have the chance to improve. You can improve some aspect of your mind and body that works towards this specific Opening Day goal.
However, this is exactly where many people fall victim to the challenge at hand.
The micro speed and macro patience strategy becomes flip-flopped. Far too often, unfortunately, people adopt a micro patient and macro speed approach. As a result, both of the following behaviors tend to materialize; procrastination and impatience.
Procrastination. This is Macro (long-term) Speed.
You know, in school, when the teacher assigns the big 10-page essay that’s due at the end of the semester? Throughout the course, the teacher may encourage rough drafts and benchmarks. These are the beneficial micro speed (short-term) tactics. Encouraged to create a healthy pace for the paper through the year. That way, when the deadline arrives, the paper is ready to rock and roll.
However, of course, many students will wait until the very final week or even the final night, to complete the assignment. In the macro, these students have to rush through the final hours to complete the paper. Their grade may end up fine. It also may not.
In life, however, when it comes to dream and goals, this approach is far more often unsuccessful. Our goal of throwing an extra 5mph is a good example.
99.9% of us will not suddenly wake up the next morning & magically have that extra velocity. We have to work towards the dream. Becoming impatient after a few pitching sessions is not the answer. Utilize the micro speed and macro patient approach.
Structure a 3-month plan. Incorporate a long toss routine. Build a workout strategy. On a daily basis, strengthen your mind and knowledge by reading pitching books and articles on how to gain velocity. Create healthy benchmarks. Every 3 weeks, aim to be throwing just over 1mph faster. These are all healthy micro speed activities. In doing so, you will keep the goal in perspective. You will keep that macro patience. Each day, remind yourself, write it down, say it out loud, that those 5mph will come. It will just take time, consistency, and hustle.
Micro speed and macro patience.
Every. Single. Day.
