For a young boy growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, it was a no-brainer: if you liked sports, Cal Ripken Jr. was your hero:
21-year Major League Baseball Career
19-time All-Star
Rookie of the Year Award winner
2-time AL MVP
3,184 career hits, 431 home runs,1695 RBIs
The only player in MLB history to be managed by his father while playing alongside his brother
You might read this list and think: Of course he was great—he came from a baseball family, he was naturally gifted. But focusing on that obvious advantage might cause you to miss the point completely.
Because I left out the most important stat of all:
Cal Ripken Jr., The Ironman, played 2,632 consecutive games—spanning more than 16 seasons—without missing a single start.
Sure, he was tall, athletic, and redefined the shortstop position, but what made him an athletic hero wasn’t his raw talent and gaudy numbers, it was his consistency, his durability, and his commitment to his team and the process. Cal could have acted entitled—the son of the coach, the golden boy—but instead, he embodied the hard hat lunch pail approach. In his Hall of Fame Speech, he said, “I never really thought about the streak… I wanted to come to the ballpark… to help the team win.”
The lesson is simple: Show up every day, rain or shine, ready to learn and grow. Commit yourself to the process of improvement rather than focusing on the results and good things will happen.
Chase dedication, commitment and grit—not outcomes.