A Record-Breaking Season
On September 12th, Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson hit his 51st home run of the season tying the franchise’s all-time single season record. Here are some additional statistics which demonstrate how impressive Olson’s season is:
- Olson leads the major leagues by seven home runs
- His 128 RBIs leads the majors by an astonishing 23
- He is 7 RBIs from tying Eddie Mathews’s franchise record
Check out the video below of Olson’s home runs thus far:
What has led to Olson’s incredible season is something all leaders can learn from.
The following are 3 Keys To Having The Best Year Of Your Career we learn from this article written by David O’Brien and The Athletic staff:
A Key To Having The Best Year Of Your Career Is A Good Start
You never have to recover from a good start. Olson said, “I remember telling you that I was taking some hard swings earlier in the season, and missing pitches earlier in the count. And that put me in a bad spot and led to more strikeouts.”
A Key To Having The Best Year Of Your Career Is To Limit Mistakes
How many strikeouts? In the first 74 games of the season, Olson with hitting just .230 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs. Worse yet, he was leading Major League Baseball with 98 strikeouts.
The key to learning how to win is to first learn how not to lose. Since then, Olson has hit .336 with 30 home runs and 76 RBIs in the last 71 games. What has made the turnaround even more extraordinary is he has only struck out 57 times.
A Key To Having The Best Year Of Your Career Is Consistency
Dwayne Johnson said, “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.”
The great soccer manager Arsene Wenger said, “When you look at people who are successful, you will find that they aren’t the people who are motivated, but have consistency in their motivation.”
Olson would agree with both Johnson and Wenger. You cannot have the best year of your career without consistency. He concluded, “I just feel like I’ve taken a lot of movement out. Just finding a way to deliver the barrel a little more consistently. There’s been a lot of times where I’ll have a little tip in the bat; I’ve done it for a few years. But I just kind of like where it’s at now, in a set position and ready to go. I think sometimes it wasn’t firing from the same spot every time.”
Conclusion
If you want to have the best year of your career, you must have a good start, limit mistakes, and have consistent performance over the entire year. If you want proof, just ask Matt Olson.
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