So there was a story recently about a catcher who was cut by the Minnesota Twins.
Did he not know how to call a game? Talk to pitchers? Batting average/WAR was abysmal?
No, he was tipping pitches to the opposing team's batters. Basically, he was telling them what pitch was coming before the pitcher delivered the ball. A HUGE advantage when you're playing baseball.
How do I know this? Because I was a catcher for the better part of 20 years of my life. As a 'backstop' you're kind of the captain of the field when on defense. You see the whole field, you decide (mostly) what pitches the pitcher should be throwing. You're the boss-man on defense.
This guy, Derek Bender was a low-to-mid draft prospect playing for the Twins single-A team in the minor leagues, given almost $300,000 just for signing with the Twins. Allegedly, he told his teammates that he wanted the season to be over so he gave the batters the heads up on what's coming, giving them an advantage and speeding up his team's losses in the playoffs. I guess he wanted to get to his dog grooming side hustle?
I don't know why.
As a former catcher and someone who legitemately had aspirations of playing professional baseball, this pisses me off. But my anger at this fool has quickly been replaced by a lesson in all this. There's a lot of lessons here but the one that jumps out to me most is...
Seize your opportunity!
If you find yourself in a situation where the cards have never been in a better to position to fall in your favor, JUMP ON THAT SHIT!
Grab it!
Seize it!
Pounce on it!
Because you never know when an opportunity like that will come up again.
Some examples of what I'm talking about:
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Attending a webinar with a speaker who represents voice actors for trailer or promo and YOU want to break into the field? Send them an email afterwards pointing out something they said that you agree with or just a simple 'really enjoyed the webinar and appreciate your widsom on the subject,' or something less 'AI-sounding' than that! Send 'em an email and let it go. You've pinged them, they know about you now. You've seized it.
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At a party and run into someone who's got a small business and you're in marketing or advertising? Organically talk to them about marketing their business. If they ask for a card, give it to 'em. Opportunity grabbed!
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See a voice actor post something about not being able to do some editing that's beyond their skill level? Offer to do it for them. That might turn into a side-hustle for you. Pounced on that thang!
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Watching a youtube video explainer of a product or software that you use a lot and it's either crappy AI or it's not done by a professional? Offer them your services. You done embraced that there opportunity!
Look, these are very specific cases but the bottom line is when you have the opportunity (and it's not hard to sniff those out) you need to grab it by the [rhymes with] 'malls'!
Derek, had a rare opportunity to be in a VERY elite group of professionals that millions of people would kill for but he pissed it down his leg. All he had to do was appreciate the situation he was in, embrace the opportunity and succeed or fail, he would have slept good at night knowing that he gave it his all. But instead, he wanted to get it over with.
Don't be like Derek.