Nobody can make you hustle.

Nobody can make you pick up a teammate after an error. Nobody can make you move on after a strikeout.

Nobody can make you pay attention in the dugout when you're not in the lineup. Nobody can make you put in the work when no one is watching.

That's all you.

Every time you step on a field, you're making choices, whether you realize it or not. How you run to first on a groundout. How you respond when things go wrong. How you treat the kid next to you in the dugout. How hard you work when the coach isn't looking.

Those choices don't show up in a stat line. Nobody tracks them. Nobody grades them.

But everyone notices.

The coaches notice. Your teammates notice. And more importantly, you notice. You know whether you gave it everything or whether you left something out there.

Talent gets you on the field. Character keeps you there.

The most competitive players I've ever been around made the right choices, every single day, in every single moment, when it would have been easier not to.

That's what separates good players from great ones. Not velocity. Not bat speed. Not size.

Choice.

There's a quote I come back to every day. It's set as a daily reminder on my phone and it never gets old.

What you're not changing, you're choosing.

One more time.

What you're not changing, you're choosing.

If you keep putting your head down after a strikeout, you're choosing that. If you keep sulking after an error instead of moving on, you're choosing that. If you keep coasting through practice when nobody's pushing you, you're choosing that.

If you keep letting failure define you instead of fuel you, you’re choosing that.

Nobody's doing it to you. You're doing it to yourself.

The good news? It works the other way too.

Every time you decide to handle failure differently, to compete harder, to pick a teammate up instead of going quiet, you're choosing that too.

Every rep you put in when nobody's watching is a choice. Every time you move on from a bad at-bat and lock in for the next one, that's a choice.

The player you become is built entirely out of the choices you make when it's hard. Not when it's easy. Not when you're winning. When it's hard.

So here's the question:

What are you not changing, and do you realize you're choosing it?

I remember finding a net or a fence and bringing a bucket of balls out there whenever I didn't have someone to throw to. No partner, no coach, no audience. I chose to find a way rather than make an excuse.

I had some talent. But talent wasn't what drove me.

What drove me was making the right choices.

I knew, even as a young player, that if I outworked most guys, if I made the right decisions on and off the field, if I put in the extra work alone when nobody was watching, I'd come out on top. Maybe not today. Maybe not this season. But one day.

Nobody saw the early mornings. Nobody saw the extra reps. Nobody saw me out there alone working on the things I knew I needed to fix. That was never the point. The point was that I saw it. I knew what I was choosing every single day.

That's the part most players miss. They want the results without making the choices that produce them. They want to be great without doing what great requires, especially when it's inconvenient, when nobody's around, when it would be easier to just go home.

The work you do alone is the most honest work you'll ever do. Nobody's grading it. Nobody's watching. It's just you and your choices.

And those choices, made quietly and consistently over time, become the player you are.

I'm not telling you this to brag. I'm telling you because it worked. And it will work for you too.

If you've read this far, you may have noticed something. I haven't talked about talent once. Or how good you need to be.

Not velocity. Not bat speed. Not size. None of it.

It was always about choices.

Making the right choices consistently is one of the hardest things a player can do. It's easy to hustle when you're playing well. It's easy to be a great teammate when things are going your way. It's easy to put in the work when you're motivated.

The best players do it anyway. When they're struggling. When they're tired. When nobody's watching. When it would be easier not to.

That's what separates them. Choices. Made consistently. Every day.

So the next time you step between those lines, or lace up your sneakers for an early workout, or decide how you're going to handle your next failure, remember:

It's your choice.

And what you're not changing, you're choosing.

Help me keep more kids in the game. If you found this helpful, please forward it to another parent or coach.

Thanks for being here. See you next week Inside the Dugout.

-Coach Steve-

Steve Holmes
Founder, Inside the Dugout
2006 MLB Draft | All-American | Youth Coach | Dad