by Liz Fisch, VP of Academic Affairs

Spring is here – and it’s time for baseball. Though I have to admit that my favorite baseball games are those that my son plays in, I’m surrounded by die-hard Yankee fans at home and at work (and Bruce, who loves the Mets), and so, I follow Major League Baseball a bit and enjoy watching some games.

This year, I’ve been fascinated by Nick Swisher’s story. In a nutshell, for those of you who don’t know it, he was a 2002 first-round draft pick who came to the majors to play with the Oakland A’s in 2004 and then was traded to the White Sox. He had a pretty dismal year in 2008, and then came to the Yankees this year – and he is doing incredibly well.

So what happened in between last season and this one? Nick went home to his father’s house in West Virginia and got back to basics. He trained in a local gym, lifting weights and doing drills. He hit in a makeshift batting cage, and worked on regaining his swing.

Why? He made a choice. Look at some of the things he has to say:

“I got knocked down last year. You’ve got one of two choices: Get back up or you can stay down. I chose to get back up. I’ve been blessed to be put in such a wonderful situation to be over here, just to learn from these guys and to get that passion and flavor back into the game. I’m just really, really excited to be part of it.”

“That was really all the battle for me. Just believing in what I was doing.”

“I have my passion back. Somewhere along the line, I lost it.”

Making a choice to get back in the game (literally in this case) and believing in yourself and what you’re doing…what great lessons for the game of life from the game of baseball!

What game do you want to get back into? Is it time to put a spark back into your career/business?  Your relationships?  Your own enjoyment?  What is it?  It’s easy to lose that spark right now with stressful situations and seemingly difficult circumstances all around… but maybe this is the PERFECT opportunity to shed what’s not working for you and reinvest your time, energy, and effort into the areas of your life and work that have always meant so much to you.

I’m inspired by Nick – how about you?

To read more about Nick’s story, click here.