Andy Neary uses pitcher fielding practice as a metaphor for three daily habits: a deliberate morning routine, an evening wind-down, and regular learning. These PFPs keep you sharp and productive while working from home.
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Good morning. It is Friday. You know what that means? It is time for Friday bullpen sessions. My name is Andy Neary and this is episode 12. First, I just want to say I hope you, your family, your employees are safe and healthy. This was a right hook none of us saw coming. And now we're getting back up off the mat, we're dusting ourselves off, and we're getting back at it. So today I want to bring some value. I want to help you get back to the basics, especially now that you're working from home, you might have a little more time on your hands. So I want to help you make it useful. Today I'm going to talk about PFPs. Your PFPs. So what am I talking about when I say PFPs? Well, I'm going to go back to my days as a pitcher. Both in high school, college and pro ball, PFPs were known as pitcher fielding practice. And if you're a pitcher out there listening to this audio, you know exactly where I'm going. I can recall going back to spring training at Maryvale, Arizona and thinking about the hours we would spend on our PFPs. Throwing off the mound, fielding that ball, throwing it to first, fielding bunts, covering first base, backing up bases when it's a double or triple. All the small things you had to do as a pitcher to be effective. You see, pitching is not just about throwing strikes and throwing hard. The best pitchers out there are also good fielding pitchers. That's something I had to my advantage because I was a good shortstop in second baseman in high school. So it allowed me to be an effective fielding pitcher. In fact, when I think of some of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, many of them were great fielding pitchers. Somebody like a Greg Maddox, he won the Gold Glove, it seemed like every year because he was such an effective fielding pitcher. But here's the thing. The PFPs.
They were repetitive. They could have. They were quite boring. In fact, if you would turn on ESPN when they do their spring training videos before baseball got canceled, you probably see a lot of pitchers going through the motions if you saw any video of pitchers working on their PFPs. But here's why they were important. Yes, they were boring. Yes, they were monotonous. Yes, it was repetitive. But you had to perfect your PFPs, because if your team, if you were pitching in the seventh inning of game seven in the playoffs and you forgot to cover first base, you forgot to feel that bunt efficiently, it could cost your team the game in the series and potentially A world championship. And so working on those small things was so important in spring training so that you could perfect them. They could become automatic in season. So that's what I want to talk to you about right now. Your PFPs. Listen, you, you're working from home right now. You're working virtually. If you lead a team, it's a challenge. Your people are isolated. So what are the PFPs you individually can be working on to help yourself through this time? Help yourself grow this time? I want to share three PFPs. And for your business, I'm calling these PFEs. Perfecting future performance. So let's talk about number one, what's your morning routine? What are you doing each and every morning to make sure you are bringing your best? My morning routine includes the following. I get up, make our coffee jump in an ice cold shower so that I can instantly wake up and get ready for the day. And then I go into my power hour, which is reading, meditating and journaling. I do a little social media, I get my workout in and I am ready to rock the day. So what is your morning routine, guys? You have to create a routine right now. It is so important, more important now than it's ever been. Number two, what's your evening routine? You see, you got to have an effective way to wind down the day. For me, it involves having our happy tea, which I shared a video about last week about an hour before I go to bed. And then as I wind down, I journal things I'm grateful for, my wins for the day and so that I can get in the right frame of mind. And then the last thing I do before I go to bed is I plan the next day. So. So my mind goes to sleep already thinking about, already planning how I can be effective the next day. So that's step number two. Number three, what are you doing each and every week to grow your mind, to educate yourself? For example, later this week I'm going to be jumping on a virtual retreat, which I'm excited about because I know I need to uplevel my education right now. And so you have more time to sit at the computer, more time on the screen than you ever have. And listen, there is so much free content out there right now, it's almost obnoxious. So figure out one thing you're going to do every day to educate yourself, to help yourself grow. Those are your PFPs. That is how you're going to perfect your future performance. So let's quickly summarize your PFPs. Number one, figure out what your morning routine is. Number two, bookend the day with an effective, easy routine. Number three, each and every day, figure out what you're going to do to educate yourself, to improve your own growth and own education. That, folks, is how you are going to make it through these times effectively. That's how you're going to set yourself up for success when we get back to whatever we call normal. So I hope this helps. I wish you well. I wish you safety. I wish you good health. Go out, work on your PFPs each and every day, and I promise you, you'll be very happy that you did. Have a great weekend, guys.
