Babe Ruth and Arnold Palmer probably had many things in common, but there is one thing that stands out: They both gave it all on every swing.

Babe Ruth had 714 home runs and 1,330 strikeouts. He failed twice as much as he succeeded. Every time he stepped up, he was swinging full and giving everything he had. He would sometimes swing so hard he would lose his shoes; many times he would almost fall down if he missed the ball.

Arnold Palmer won 95 professional tournaments with 7 of those being major championships. One day, Arnold hit his tee shot in the woods and the only way he could get the ball to the green in regulation was to hit a driver off of the dirt. You guessed it…he took out a driver and hit the ball clean off of the dirt.

Why am telling you about these two athletes? They are like us in many ways. Every time we get up to do a sales pitch, write a report, talk with a client, cook a burger, throw a newspaper, we have the opportunity to do the best we can. Will we always win? No, but I will tell you that if you swing fully every time in life, you will experience more success.

There are a lot of people that just don’t try. I believe if you show up and try, you will beat 95% of your competition. So, the next time you get up to the plate, stand over the tee box, or get ready to make a sales pitch, wind up and really take a swing not holding anything back. KT