He never gave up.

Sometimes we concentrate on the negative sports stories.  Let's start our week focusing on the one of the good ones.

Ten years ago, Rick Ankiel was going to be a star pitcher.  His body of work during his rookie year earned his manager's confidence and Ankiel found himself starting a playoff game.  It was during that game, that he lost it.  He could not throw a strike.  I mean he was so wild the catcher could not catch the ball.  All of a sudden, Rick Ankiel's career was in jeopardy.

He kept working.  He went back to the minors, he had surgery, he made it back to the majors.  But, he never became the pitcher that he was, so he decided to become an outfielder.  He worked some more.  In 2007, Ankiel was promoted back to the big league club.

Rick Ankiel started the 2010 season as a Kansas City Royal.  He was traded to Atlanta.  Then Friday night in the top of the 11th inning in a tie game, Rick Ankiel hit a game winning home run.  As he ran around those bases, you have to wonder what he was thinking.  All the work, all the doubters, all the setbacks, but it was all worth it.

So what can we learn from Rick Ankiel?

1.  It takes work.  Whatever you want to do in life takes work.  I have told you before, we sometimes rob the successful people by not giving them credit for their hard work.

What about you?  Are you working as hard as you need to be working?  Are you investing the time on your dreams?

 2.  It takes perseverance.  We can only imagine how many times Ankiel thought about quitting.  You have to be able to work through the tough times and you have to have faith in yourself.

 3.  You have to be able to change.  Ankiel wanted to be a pitcher.  When he saw that dream go away, he changed his goal to become a major league baseball player.  He changed his goal and he worked hard.

 As we start another week, spend some time thinking about your career, your goal, your dreams. What can you learn from Rick Ankiel?  Who knows, you might be hitting your home run soon.  Have a great week - have fun - see you later.

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