I played baseball for ten awesome years and realized something very important fairly recently, although I wish I had while I was still playing. Every year I played, without fail, I performed my best the first two or three games of the season. Why? Very simple. I had the "clean slate" mentality. I wasn't comparing and analyzing my results or stats because I didn't have any yet. I was literally going up to the plate, seeing the ball, and hitting it as far as I could. There were no good "streaks" to hopefully not break. There were no "slumps" to get through. It was impossible to compare myself to other players because nobody had really played yet. There was a ball being thrown at my bat, and that was the end of it. I was completely present and wasn't thinking about past games...because there weren't any. As the season progressed, I still did well overall because I was a good player who practiced all the time, but my performance would never again be as good as those first two games.

So what exactly was going on here? My ego was getting in the way. If I had an excellent game, I tried to re-produce the same results for the next one. Big mistake! This put all kinds of pressure on me, leading to failure. If my batting average got really high, I desperately didn't want to "mess that up". In order to preserve my "status" on the team, it would also lead me to swing for the fences. Another big mistake. Rather than seeing a baseball and hitting it, my mind was busy stirring up all kinds of possible ego-threatening scenarios, not only while I was playing - but also off the field as well.

The experiences I had with baseball are so closely related to the experiences I have had with the game that it's scary. I used to literally keep track of my approaches so I could tell myself I was "one for four" at the end of the night (or whatever the average may have been). This was a huge game-killer. Scrap the batting average mentality all together! You should not have a batting average with game. Instead, think of every approach as your first at bat on the first game of the season. Did your approach go well? Great! Mentally take note of the things you did well, and move on. Did your approach totally suck? Whatever! Take note of how to improve and move the fuck on! Each approach is a completely fresh plate appearance.

I was able to make this connection by reading an amazing book called "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle and studying RSD material. I highly suggest checking out both because once you understand the ego and how it can interfere with your success, you will find yourself happier in life and more successful at game.