EMBRACE the Boo's! [Friday Bullpen Sessions Episode 15]

Hey. Hey. It is Friday. You know what that means? It is time for Friday bullpen sessions. My name is Andy Neary and this is episode 15. Today I want to talk to you about embracing the booze. No, not the liquor, the chatter. You see, right now you might be sitting out there and you know, you should be posting on social media. You know, you should be sharing your story more. You know, you should be putting yourself out there, but you're not. Why? Because you're afraid of what people might say. You're afraid of that one comment that could come through on that social media platform that's going to knock you away from doing what you know you should be doing because you fear the booze. Listen, as a kid, I was a people pleaser. I still deal with people pleasing issues from time to time. I don't like making people upset. I allow stress and anxiety to come into my life when I think somebody is upset with me. And I spent far, far too many times in my life fearing the judgment of others. And it has held me back in the past. But one of the greatest teachers I've ever had.

In learning how to overcome and not let those boos get to you is the pitcher's mound. You see, when you're a pitcher in the game of baseball, all eyes are on you. The spotlight is on you. The game literally cannot move forward until you throw that next pitch. You control the tempo and the speed of the entire game. But when you're on that mound, and like I said, all eyes are on you, a lot of nasty stuff can be said about you, especially when you're pitching at the opposing team stadium. And I can go back to unlimited numbers of stories where I can take myself back to a game where I was pitching on the road. And some of the things people would say about you, some of the things people would say at you about your family, I mean, it would blow me away. There's one particular story that I'd love to share, and if you know me, you've heard this story before. But it definitely defined my pro baseball career. You see, I was an undersized pitcher. As I've shared before, I'm five nine. I. I didn't have overpowering height. I wasn't intimidating in my size. I didn't throw all that hard. But here I was playing professional baseball, and it was the summer of 2000 and it was our first trip to Missoula, Montana to take on the Missoula Osprey, an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. And I'll never Forget the bus ride from Helena, Montana, over McDonald Pass into Missoula. If you live in Montana, you can probably picture this. And on the bus, our coaching staff had warned us that, you know, the crowd in Missoula, it gets pretty wild. It's a college town. The University of Montana sits there. It's summer, school's out, so the kids are going to love coming to the games. They love drinking a bit too much, and they love to make every game a nightmare for the opposing players. I was a relief pitcher, so I often came into games early in the game to help keep my team in the game, help us keep. Help keep us relevant and staying in the game to give us an opportunity to win the game at the end. So the first game of the series, our starting pitcher was having a really rough time, and I found myself entering the game as a relief pitcher by the third or the fourth inning. And I'll never forget when I came running in from the bullpen and running right into this loud, obnoxious, drunk crowd. I got to the pitcher's mound, I grabbed the ball from Dan Norman, the Helena brewers manager, and I started warming up. Here we are again. Third, fourth inning of a game against Missoula Osprey. Ironically, my parents happened to be out there for this game, so they were in the stands. And as I started warming up to get ready to face the first batter, the crowd started chanting. And little by little, the chanting got louder. And after more, my third or fourth warmup pitch, I could actually hear what they were chanting. How can you pitch when you're five foot six? How can you pitch when you're five foot six? Now I'm five foot nine. But the point is this. When the spotlight is on you, when you want to take control, you want to share your story, and on the pitcher's mound, you. You're just kind of putting yourself out there, right? Things will be said about you. That night in Missoula, the crowd was literally making fun of my height.

The point is this. Whether you're on the pitcher's mound.

Or you're trying to make your first post on LinkedIn.

Things are gonna be said. Yes, there's gonna be a ton of people that like your content. Yes, there are gonna be a ton of people that love your story, but you're also going to hear the boos. You're also going to hear those people who want to see you lose. Just like it was when I was pitching on the road at the opposing team stadium. That entire stadium wanted to see me screw up. It wanted to see me lose. And it's no different on social media. It's no different in society today. When you put yourself out there, when you share your story with the world, you're going to have booze. Listen, this very podcast, this Friday Bullpen session that I just turned into a podcast last week.

Literally got a one star review immediately. Now, I find it interesting that the individual who gave me the one star review wasn't man or woman enough to put a written review on there. But the point is this. You are going to have people who don't like you. You are going to have people who don't like your content. Now, if my content deserves a one star rating, I deserve it. That tells me it is not where it is supposed to be. It is not good enough.

But just know that if you have a story to share, if you want to put yourself out there, whether it's to grow your brand, grow the awareness of who you are, and grow your business, you're going to have people who are going to boo you. You have, you're going to have people who want to see you lose. And. But you have to tune it out. You have to filter out that noise and focus on your mission. If you know that you are bringing value, if you know that you are posting content, posting your story that comes from the heart, you've got nothing to lose. And we're sitting here right now on April 24, 2020, while most of us are still on lockdown, you have nothing to lose right now. Put yourself out there, share your story, and do not worry about what people say. Because I promise you, if you do that and you do it consistently.

Good things are going to happen. Your brand's going to grow, your confidence going to grow, and ultimately your business is going to grow. So do me a favor today, if you feel paralyzed right now from putting yourself out there, from posting on social media, whether it's LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and you're fearful of what others might think, throw that garbage, Throw that mindset out right now. We need to hear your story. We want to hear it. You have value to bring. And if your story, if your content can just change one life.

That is all that matters. So my advice to you today is learn to embrace the booze. Because there's going to be a hell of a lot more people that love what you have to bring and love what you have to offer. So go out today, post that content, share your story. The world wants to hear it. And last but certainly not least, if you are finding these bullpen sessions. Valuable. Please do me a favor. Go to itunes, go to Spotify, get. Give it a good review. Subscribe. And please, please. I'd be grateful if you would share this with someone.

You know that would find this useful. Until next week, have a great weekend. Put yourself out there and share your story with the world.