62. The Mindset That Separates Professionals From Amateurs

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Hey, hey. It is Friday. It is time for Friday Bullpen Sessions. My name is Andy Neary. Each week I deconstruct my journey, my struggles through professional baseball to help unpack yours so you can live a life on purpose. I take the lessons I learned in baseball and help you apply them in business and in life. So if you're ready to join me, grab your glove, grab a ball, get ready to take the mound, and get ready, bear down to strike out the limiting beliefs in your life. All right, here we go. Hey, welcome back to Friday Bullpen Sessions. My name is Andy Neary and this is episode 62. This week we are talking about the three things that separate professionals from amateurs, whether it's in the sports world or the world of business. Now, these are my three opinions, but I truly feel strongly about these three character traits, these three personality traits that definitely define a professional from a mere amateur. Now, before we dive into this week's episode, I want to make a big invitation to you. If you are feeling like you need a new perspective with your mindset, you feel like your habits have been waning little through this pandemic, or you just feel like your calendars are owning you and you are not owning your calendar, I want to invite you to join my text community, my little group that I affectionately call my text tribe. Every week I am sharing free coaching content around those topics I just mentioned. Daily habits, keeping your mindset on the right side of happy, mastering your time management skills, and then business tactics. What is your brand? Who is your target audience? What's your brand message? What are you saying to them? How are you sharing that message far and wide? I want you to invite if that is what you are looking for, if you're looking for the accountability, the discipline and you just fly flat out want results, I want you to join. Right now. All you got to do is text the word mindset to the number 414-622-1462. Again, that's text the word mindset to 414-622-1462 and you will get all the good stuff. Go do it right now. Alright, let's dive into this week's episode.

So let's talk about the three things that separate.

A professional from an amateur, whether it's in sports or in the business world. Now, I'm going to use examples from sports and tie them into the business world. These are observations I have made in both the world of sports and in business, of behaviors, of character traits, of personality traits that I view as a Professional and those that I view as amateur. And as you're listening in, if you feel like I'm pointing the finger at you, if you feel like I'm describing you, the amateur, don't judge, don't get mad to say, hey, what shifts can I make in my behavior in the way I treat others that could have others view me as a true professional? That's what this episode is about. My goal is to have you strive to be viewed as that beacon in your industry, that professional everybody looks up to.

Now, why am I sharing this topic today? Well, it's because I can remember the first day that the game of baseball became a true profession for me. It was the first day I got paid to play the game of baseball. It was my signing bonus. I just signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. I was about to be shipped off to Helena, Montana for the summer. And it was the first time I realized, holy cow, baseball is no longer some hobby. I played right when I was four or five years old. I was in, I played, I was in little league peewees, then high school, then college. But now the game of baseball.

Was a profession, it was a business, it was my job. Somebody was paying me to perform every day, to play my best every single day. If you're listening in and you played a professional sport, you know exactly what I mean. When that shift occurs from this is something you did as a kid, something you did in high school, now it's your job, the perspective shifts quite a bit. And in the world of sports, when you get to the professional ranks, you definitely see those you view as a professional and those whose behavior you still view like an amateur. So today I'm going to dive into those three traits that I see right now, especially on social media in the business world. And again, if you're listening in and you feel like I'm describing you, the amateur, I don't want you to get mad at me. I want you to. I don't want you to judge. I don't want you to turn this off. I want you to think about what you can do to start being viewed as that true professional in your craft. So let's dive into number one, that first trait that I believe separates a professional from an amateur.

Professionals are human beings who are exactly who you think they are. The way they show up on social media is exactly who they are when you meet them in person. Let me give you an example. When I was pitching the Milwaukee brewers organization, one of the eye opening experiences I had is.

Many of the coaches I had and played against in minor league baseball were former major league baseball players. Guys I watched on TV growing up. And it was exciting, right? You know, no matter who we were playing that night, there was most likely a coach on the other side and the other dugout that I recognized. The name I recognized because I had watched them growing up. And these are guys I admired, right? When you. When you're a kid, you're collecting their baseball cards, you're acting like them. You're imitating their swing in the backyard or their motion on the mound in the backyard. These are guys you grew up to love. And it's interesting, now that you're playing professional baseball, they are guys that you're playing for if they're your coach or they're guys you're playing against, right? And so there's this whole different view you get of these. These men that you watched when you were a kid. Now, some of them, they were exactly who I thought they were when I was a kid, both good and bad. They were exactly who I thought they were. Look at some of the guys and women in professional sports that you admire. It is a beautiful thing when they look like these beautiful human beings on tv. They're doing all of this charitable work off the field. And if you ever get the chance to meet them in person and they are exactly who they portray themselves as, it's a magical thing. It.

Justifies why you followed them. It legitimizes the status they deserve to have because of the people they are now. Flip side, there were several former Major League Baseball players that I played for in the minor league systems or played against, guys that I may have admired as a kid watching tv, whether they played for the brewers or any other team in the major leagues. And now you get a chance to meet them, you're like, whoa.

You are not who I thought you were. You're a guy that I looked up to when I was 7 and 8 years old. Here I see you cussing out players. Here I see you cussing out the umpires. Your behavior is quite pathetic. And no matter how much success you had on the field.

Now I look at you and I say, there is no way I would ever want to model myself after you. Trust me, in the world of sports again, I don't care what sport it is. There are plenty of those athletes out there.

Because when I'm talking about a professional and separating a professional from an amateur, I'm not just talking about talent and ability. In fact, I'm not talking about talent and ability whatsoever. I'm Talking about my mindset characteristics, personality traits, character traits, how they treat other people. That's the definition of a true profession. It's not professional, it's not talent and ability and how much money they have in their bank account. And there were a lot of coaches in the minor league systems that I used to admire and I admired as a kid that I looked at the behavior, watched the behavior, now that I was playing against them, reform. And I was like, holy cow, no way. You are not somebody I would ever want to model myself after. I don't care how much success you look like you had, and the same holds true in the business world. I want you to look at how you're behaving right now. Are you the character, the personality you portray on social media in front of prospects, in front of your peers? Are you portraying the person you really are? Or are you putting on a facade and trying to be someone that looks like they're successful, or you think you need to be somebody else to have success? I'm here to tell you, people, look right through that. Be the individual that is exactly who you say you are on and off the field, quote, unquote, in the boardroom, outside the boardroom, be the same person. Treat your peers, treat your teammates the same way you'd want them to treat you. Just be the person you are portraying to be, and people will view you as a true professional. There are plenty of people I've met in the business world. I come from the health insurance industry and people that are having massive success, making tons of money, and everybody wants to look up to them and be them. And then you meet them and you go, whoa.

I don't care how much money you've made, I don't care how many sales you've had. I would never want to model my life after you.

So that's trait number one. I want you to think about that. Are you exactly who you are portraying to be? If you are, you're professional. If you feel like you're putting a facade on right now, you feel like you have to be somebody else to win business or to get recognized by your peers, you're still. You're still an amateur right now. Just be real, be human. Show up exactly who you are on and off the field, and your peers, your clients, your prospects, your colleagues will view you as a professional. Trait number two.

True professionals do not cut down their competition. True professionals look at what they do. Look at the industry they're in from a pure, abundant mindset. They know there's enough to go around and they respect and recognize their competition. Yes, they may go after them and attack them in the heat of battle, right? You're trying to beat your opponent. But when the game's over, whether it's on the baseball field or in the boardroom, you respect them, you recognize them, you cheer them on. That is the sign of a true profession, true professional. Look at some of the greatest athletes that you can remember growing up watching or the people you are seeing out there right now. The true leaders of the sports that they play. They look at all of their colleagues and their peers, whether it's Major League Baseball, NHL, NBA, NFL, Women's NBA. They respect everybody in their league.

They view it their obligation to lift up their peers in their competition.

They don't cut them down. One of the greatest pieces of advice I ever heard was watching a Gary Vaynerchuk video and he said, if you want to build the tallest building in town, meaning if you want to have the most successful career, the most successful business, quote unquote, in town, you have two choices.

You can spend all your time tearing down all the other buildings in town so it appears you have the tallest building, or you can just go to work building the tallest damn building in town. His point was this. If you want to be a true professional, just focus on your own success. Don't waste any effort or any time cutting down your competition. And by the way, there's enough to go around. You literally cannot serve every potential prospect or client in your industry. So honestly, be grateful that you have competition that can serve.

People that you target in your industry, because you can't get to them all.

Now, if you're spending any time cutting down the competition, hanging out with people who are cutting down the competition, I'm here to tell you you're an amateur. I know that may sound tough, but it is. It's the truth. If you want to be viewed as a true professional in your craft, whether it's baseball, basketball, accounting, health insurance, sales, spend your time recognizing, respecting your competition. Spend your time actually putting in the effort to helping others who aren't quite at your stature, at your level of success, get better. Even if they're competition, view it as your obligation to help your industry, your peers and and your competition get better. That's what this is all about. So trait number two. True professionals spend their time respecting, recognizing their peers in their competition. They don't spend any effort cutting down the competition. And I want you to take a hard look in the mirror on this one and think about how you're behaving. Think about the people you are following in your industry, people who are perceived as thought leaders. Where are they putting their time and energy? Are they spending it all on helping you get better? Or are they using some of that time to rip on the competition that you both are going after? Think about that and take a take a long, hard, long good look at that. It's very important. So trait number two. True professionals spend all their time respecting the competition and lifting up the industry. They do not spend any time cutting down their competition or ripping and making fun of those who might not be at the level of success they are. And this leads us to trait number three, characteristic number three that separates a professional from a mere amateur. And that's this.

True professionals act like they've been there before.

Let me give you a really easy example that I think you're going to understand, especially if you're over the age of 40. Now, if you're a youngster, if you're under the age of 30 listening in, you may have to go to YouTube and look up some videos to maybe to understand or know who these former athletes are. But if you're over the age 30 or 40, you definitely know who I'm referring to. I want you to go back right now. Not right now. You don't want to be. Don't get off this podcast. But when you have time. When this episode is over, I want you to go to YouTube and I want you to watch old video footage of these following former NFL greats playing the game of football. I want you to watch film or footage of Emmett Smith, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys, and Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions. Watch what they did when they scored a touchdown.

They simply handed the ball to the referee. I don't care if it was a touchdown five minutes into the game or a touchdown that sealed the victory with three minutes to go. They never let the highs get too high. They never let the lows get too low. Watch guys in the NFL nowadays, It's like a 30 second art performance. Every time they hit pay dirt, they act like they have never been there before. Now I know it's for entertainment and it creates some energy, but every single win is celebrated like they have never tasted victory before. Same as in baseball. Some of these home run trots now are unbelievable.

But if you watch the true professionals, whether it's in sports or in business, they act like they have been there before.

In business I watch professionals again, mainly in the health insurance industry, start having and tasting victory and they act like They've never done it before. Every single win is over celebrated.

Do me a favor, go watch Emmett. Go watch Barry. And when you score, when you get that win, that new piece of business, that new client, you taste victory, simply hand the ball back to the referee because you know victory is going to come again.

Don't ever let the highs get too high. Don't ever let the lows get too low. Because the flip side is true. A true professional, when he loses, watch Emmett. Barry, Michael Jordan missing the game winning shot. When they lose, they don't get. They're not devastated. They know tomorrow is a new day. It's a new game. It's a new chance to come back and kick ass. Today, they tip their cap. They respect their competitor because they lost. Their competitor beat them. But tomorrow's a new day. They never. They never let any loss get too low. So the same holds true for you. Where are you right now with your craft? Are you putting too much effort on every win? And when you win, it's like, oh, my God, I can't believe I did this. And when you lose, are you letting that loss cripple and devastate you? If you are, you're an amateur.

True professionals go after every victory. They expect it. And when it happens, they don't get too excited because they know the next one's right around the corner. When they lose, they don't get. They don't get upset. They don't get over. They don't get too frustrated because they know with every defeat comes an opportunity for an equally amazing victory.

So that's character trait number three. True professionals act like they've been there before. They don't let the highs get too high. They don't let the lows get too low. So take inventory. Review these three character traits. These three personality traits I just described you. Now, again, they're my opinion. These are observations I have made in the world of sports, professional sports, and now the world of business.

What truly separates a professional from an amateur is, number one.

Professionals.

Act like they've been there before. They don't let the highs get too high. Number two.

Professionals are who you think they are. They portray exactly the Persona on the field. And I'm using air quotes because it could be in the boardroom or the world of business. They are exactly who you think they are. They show up on and off the field the same legit person, the same legit professional. Number three, they don't spend their time cutting down the competition. They spend all their time respecting, recognizing their peers and their colleagues in their competition because they know this is an abundant world. They know there's enough going around, and they make it an obligation to help those who aren't having the same level of success that they're having get better.

So analyze this. Take time to look where you are at right now. How are you behaving? What does your personality, your character traits look like to your peers and colleagues right now? Again, if I described you when I talked about the amateur side of sports and business, don't get mad. Use it as an opportunity to get better. Because you know what happens when clarity and confidence collide. Action happens. We'll make it happen today. Shift your mindset.

Hey, thank you for taking the time to listen to this Friday Bullpen session. If you are enjoying these episodes, please do me a favor. Go over to Apple, subscribe, give it a five star rating. And if you know anybody in your life, whether it's in your family, personal life, your friends, business colleagues that you think would find benefit in listening to these episodes as well, do me a favor. Please share the Bullpen sessions with them. I'd be extremely grateful if you did and again, go out and make it happen today. Thank you.