“People don’t realize they have to keep hitting. They don’t think their punches are landing.”
— Kevin Elko

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers did something a few years ago that no team in NBA history had ever done before — down three games to one in the NBA Finals they came back to win the championship.

It reminded me of a story from the book “The Sender” by Kevin Elko and Bill Beausay:

There was a boxer named Cyclone Hart. And he loses this fight to an Italian named Vito. And at the end of the fight they were in the locker room and there was a curtain between them. And this guy Vito started talking to his trainer. Cyclone Hart could hear him. And Vito said, “He kept on hitting me with that left in my ribs. And I thought to myself that if he hits me one more time with that left, I’m going to quit. But he never hit me again. I don’t know why, he just quit hitting me.”

Cyclone Hart, on the other side of the curtain, started to cry. And he said quietly to his trainer, “I didn’t think my left was getting there.”
The Cavaliers had no idea what would be the game or the play that would turn the series around. They simply kept punching.

We see examples of this all the time in baseball. A player goes through a rough patch — they can’t seem to get the big hit, or make a big pitch when they need it. They might go a week without a hit or find themselves hitting .200 after a month of the season.

The ones who will ultimately find success stick to their plan and do not allow discouragement to creep into their heads. They immerse themselves in their process. And they keep punching. Every. Single. Day.

Today, whatever line of work you are in, remember to keep punching. Make that one more call. Try one more different method to get through to your troubled student. Send your work to one more publisher. Don’t get caught up in the discouragement.

Keep punching. They next one you throw may end up being the one that turns the tide in your favor and wins you the fight.
Win Your Day!

Contact MLB.com writer Steve Gilbert at winyourday@gmail.com to sign up for his daily inspirational emails.