What do you dream about?

What do you worry about?

What do you cry about?

What brings your joy?

When I was a child, I dreamed of becoming a Major League Baseball Player for the Chicago Cubs. I watched a lot of Cubs games with my grandfather during the summertime in the ’80s.

Playing baseball was the one thing that brought me the most joy when I watched it on TV, as well as when I played. I was fortunate to be drafted twice by the Chicago Cubs and played two years professionally in the Cubs minor leagues.

I was born and raised in Atlanta, where Hank Aaron was one of my favorite players. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was born and raised in Atlanta like me. As a child, I was drawn to his tireless fight for the rights of Black people.

At age 46, I am a Major League Citizen because I am willing and able to use my success to serve others. Because of my time in baseball, I still use the life lessons I learned on the baseball field to empower an at-risk generation to lead and transform their City of Atlanta. I use the sport of baseball to teach them how to overcome the three curveballs that threaten their success: crime, poverty and racism.

My wife, Kelli, and I also own Diamond Directors, which provides a blueprint of success for diamond sport athletes.

As I have alluded in the past, maybe’s are used to indicate uncertainty or possibility. Use these final days of May to answer the four questions I mentioned above and use your answers as a guide to success and significance.

Success is what you get. Significance is what you give.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and a track record of success that can work for you.

Melissa Kantor once said, “Time does not care how precious it is, how hard you are working not to squander it. Time passes.” It is May and the temperature is starting to rise in Hotlanta.

May-July is the Maintenance Phase for my hitters. They’ve earned it.

As summer baseball gets into full swing, hitters want a lot of hits and they want to get them in bunches. Don’t deal with the maybe aspect. Maintain skills as a fact.

The ultimate goal for hitters is to get hits. But there are seven parts of the swing and it takes 3,000 reps to build a habit for a total of 21,000 reps. It takes another 21,000 to convert the habit to a skill and another 21,000 to maintain those skills throughout the summer.

1. Stance/Load
2. Timing
3. Tempo
4. Tracking
5. Approach
6. Contact
7. Extension/Finish

Over my 20-plus years of coaching, I teach my hitters that productive at-bats is a key to getting a lot of hits.

A productive at-bats consists of:

• Seeing at least six pitches regardless of the outcome
• Drawing a walk
• Hitting the ball hard somewhere regardless of the outcome
• Executing an offensive strategy, i.e., advancing a runner, hit and run, etc.

If you can have a productive at-bat 50% of the time, you should expect to get hits 30-40% of the time. We don’t have time for maybe.

Let’s go!

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and a track record of success that can work for you.

Self-efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one’s capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome. As a result of having self-efficacy, you can be assured your positive thoughts will be converted to positive action.

American futurist Joel Arthur Barker once said, “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.”

• What do you dream about?
• What do you worry about?
• What brings you joy?

To make your dreams come true, it is going to take more than prayer, love and hope.

I would argue that it takes discernment, self-efficacy, action and support, among many things.

Kelli Stewart is a great model of self-efficacy.

As we close out the month of April, I pray this month was able to bring showers of discernment, grit, focus, and self-efficacy upon you.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and a track record of success that can work for you.