[00:03.79]Pete Rose, the famous baseball player, whom I have never met, taught me something so valuable that changed my life.
[00:11.74]Pete was being interviewed in spring training the year he was about to break Ty Cobb’s all time hits record.
[00:19.03]One reporter blurted out, “Pete, you only need 78 hits to break the record.
[00:24.80]How many at-bats do you think you’ll need to get the 78 hits?”
[00:28.51]Without hesitation, Pete just stared at the reporter and very matter-of-factly said, “78.”
[00:36.24]The reporter yelled back, “Ah, come on Pete, you don’t expect to get 78 hits in 78 at-bats, do you?”
[00:42.99]Mr. Rose calmly shared his philosophy with the throngs of reporters who were anxiously awaiting his reply to this seemingly boastful claim.
[00:52.13]“Every time I step up to the plate, I expect to get a hit!
[00:56.54]If I don’t expect to get a hit, I have no right to step in the batter’s box in the first place!”
[01:02.20]“If I go up hoping to get a hit,” he continued, “then I probably don’t have a prayer of getting a hit.
[01:08.96]It is positive expectation that has gotten me all of the hits in the first place.”
[01:13.64]When I thought about Pete Rose’s philosophy and how it applied to everyday life, I felt a little embarrassed.
[01:20.39]As a business person, I was hoping to make my sales quotas.
[01:24.31]As a father, I was hoping to be a good dad.
[01:27.46]As a married man, I was hoping to be a good husband.
[01:31.38]The truth was that I was an adequate salesperson, I was not so bad of a father, and I was an okay husband.
[01:38.90]I immediately decided that being okay was not enough!
[01:42.83]I wanted to be a great salesperson, a great father and a great husband.
[01:47.64]I changed my attitude to one of positive expectation, and the results were amazing.
[01:53.33]I was fortunate enough to win a few sales trips, I won Coach of the Year in my son’s baseball league,
[02:00.33]and I share a loving relationship with my wife, Karen, with whom I expect to be married to for the rest of my life!
[02:07.55]Thanks, Mr. Rose!
