Trust The Process
I used to believe success was a destination, now I know it’s a process.
Going into my senior year of high school, playing baseball in college became a realistic option. In fact, I was on the cusp of being able to compete in the top conferences, but was in need of some guidance. This is when I met one of the most influential mentors of my life — Cash.
Cash was a jack of all trades. He was an accomplished college baseball coach, entrepreneur, and mental performance guru. As you can probably guess, I was pumped to meet the dude. My expectations were exceeded when about halfway through our first lesson he asks, “Have you ever heard someone say ‘trust the process’?” I respond, “Yeah, I hear professional athletes and coaches say it all the time.” I had no clue where the conversation was going, but I held on.
He continued, “A lot of people say ‘trust the process’ but have no clue what the process is — it’s lip service. A process is vital, but if it’s not clearly laid out, where’s the value?” Cash had captured my attention. I’d never heard a mentor, or coach, talk about something so palpable.
After our first session, Cash asked me to do two things for homework — neither one baseball related. The first was to start making my bed in the morning. The second, to purchase a journal. I was a little confused at first, “how is making my bed and buying a journal going to make me throw harder?” Boy was I in for a lesson of a lifetime.
The next week, we met for a second time, and what’s the first thing he asks me? “Did you make your bed this week?” I answer with my head down, “No.” He responds empathetically, “Making your bed accomplishes a couple things. One, it sets up your day for success. You’ve seized your first win, no matter how small you think it is. Two, after a bad day, you have a made bed to come home to, and who doesn’t like that!”
At this point, I was embarrassed. “It takes two minutes Luke, why didn’t you just get it done?” I thought to myself. Thankfully, I did bring the journal. In it, he had me write down a couple questions to contemplate after the session. They were intended to expand my mindset and strengthen the muscle of writing. He said he journaled nearly everyday because it was a key part of his process for living in health, and I was completely bought in.
The why behind his requests were now clear. Cash was teaching me a math equation where my process was the input and results were the output. It wasn’t about me throwing harder, it was about creating a paradigm shift. One that redefined success. Opening my mind to view minute measures, like making my bed, as the strengthening of my ability to achieve.
Soon after our conversation, I started making my bed religiously, and looked forward to it. I saw myself in a superior light afterwards — five minutes into my day and already catching dubs. Journaling was my new obsession. I used it for various reasons: to reflect on performances, to ground myself during inner conflict, and to rough sketch the next day’s agenda.
After a couple weeks, I was perceiving success from a much broader perspective. Before, I didn’t make my bed or journal because it didn’t feel like a win — it felt like a chore. Once I started to believe in the benefit they provided my state of mind, the time investment became a no brainer, and I felt triumphant when they were checked off.
The key underlying principle in the equation is belief. I can’t emphasize this enough. If I didn’t believe making my bed or journaling had value in the first place, they weren’t going to make an impact on my mindset. The beauty of this belief is after a lousy day at the field, I had other accomplishments to fall back on. Whereas, if I continued to view them as an obligation, all of my eggs would be in one basket — results.
The completion of these two inputs gave my mind evidence to believe I was capable of doing anything I intended. It was the foundation for my overarching self-efficacy. With this new broad perspective, I started looking for other small steps to view as wins.
Soon after my search started, I realized I was going to have several processes. Each comprised of little victories like the two named before. There would be one for my everyday lifestyle, one for my education, one for relationships - the list goes on. This being said, creating a million detailed processes felt overwhelming and unproductive. Some didn’t need to be well thought out, they came naturally. I was going to have to narrow it down.
I found, prioritizing the process for my lifestyle created an infectious environment for prosperity. It’s composed of mental breathers I take part in everyday no matter how busy I am or how miserable I feel. At my best, I invest time into three: walking, writing, and meditating.
As I go through my day, tension tends to build up from various stressors. These three load offs relieve it, and on the other side is a recentered focus. I trust that my lifestyle process will elevate my mindset — creating a downhill slope for me to pursue endeavors.
A simple way to create this slope early in your day is a morning routine — a subdivision of the lifestyle process. Mine consists of making my bed, slamming some water, and going for a walk. Boom! I’m on a roll, fulfilling initiatives before 9 am. During seasons of life which are especially challenging, a morning routine can be a life jacket in an ocean of desperation.
Morning regimens make it easier to stay discipline in your process. The mind finds comfort in doing the same actions everyday — knowing what to expect. Making your bed is a painless way to arrive at this solace, and it possesses a profitable return on time investment.
What matters most is you assemble your morning to create momentum for the rest of your day. You can make your morning routine as long or as short as you want. I’ve found, routines with more than four inputs becomes taxing, evoking the opposite effect we are looking for.
Even without baseball, my inputs haven’t changed. I still make my bed every morning, and I still have intentions of walking, writing, and meditating. What also hasn’t changed is seasons of inconsistency in my everyday process. These stretches usually begin when results become my center of attention. During these times, I give myself grace, and find ways to make it easy to recenter. Focusing solely on my morning routine achieves this without overwhelming myself.
One of the my favorite Cash sayings is, “you can take one day off, but not two in row.” I remind myself of this often because both consistency and inconsistency create a domino effect. Say I don’t make my bed one morning or I don’t journal, then maybe I let a writing session slip or grub out a little bit more at night. An object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless… you know the rest.
You decide how to define success. I encourage you to look for it in the process.
With Love,
Luke
