As February approaches, our hitters are deep in winter workouts, building habits and strength that will shape their success in the coming year. Winter is the time to lay the groundwork for greatness.

And, as 2024 comes to a close, we look ahead to 2025 with a key lesson in mind: There’s a big difference between a goal and a result.

Goals are the road map—they lead to results. But without the right habits, discipline and focus, goals remain just dreams. The truth is, your potential is limitless, but reaching it requires consistent effort and intentional progress.

At the same time, failure to reach your potential is a real possibility. Blame for missed potential can be shared, but the responsibility often falls squarely on the individual.

As we think about 2025, the question becomes: Are you doing everything you need to do to be properly positioned for success—not just for the upcoming season but for your future?

Winter workouts are the time to reflect, refocus and recommit. The habits you build now will determine the results you achieve later. Make 2025 the year you unlock your potential by holding yourself accountable, staying disciplined and putting in the work.

2025: A Play on Numbers

To close out 2024 strong and set yourself up for 2025, consider these 20/25 Questions for Success:

20 Reflection Questions to Evaluate 2024

1. What was your biggest success this year, and what did it teach you?
2. What was your biggest failure, and how can you grow from it?
3. What habits did you build this year that helped you improve?
4. Where did you fall short, and why?
5. How did you handle adversity on and off the field?
6. What did you do to strengthen your mental game?
7. Did you give your best effort in every workout and game? Why or why not?
8. How did you grow as a teammate?
9. What’s one area of your game that improved the most in 2024?
10. What’s one area that still needs work?
11. What’s one moment this year when you felt truly confident in your abilities?
12. Did you make progress toward your long-term goals? How?
13. What feedback did you receive from coaches or teammates, and how did you respond?
14. How did you manage your time between training, school, and personal life?
15. What role did discipline play in your success or failure this year?
16. How did your mindset affect your performance during tough moments?
17. What did you do outside of practice to improve your skills?
18. Did you consistently show up prepared and focused for practices and games?
19. How well did you communicate with your coaches and teammates?
20. What’s one thing you would do differently if you could redo 2024?

25 Planning Questions for 2025

1. What specific results do you want to achieve next year?
2. What habits will you need to build to get there?
3. How will you stay accountable to your goals?
4. What sacrifices are you willing to make for success?
5. Who can help you stay on track, and how?
6. What’s your plan for handling failure or setbacks?
7. How will you measure progress in your game?
8. What’s your biggest strength, and how can you maximize it?
9. What’s your biggest weakness, and how will you address it?
10. What will you do to stand out to coaches and teammates?
11. What’s your plan for staying consistent in your training throughout the year?
12. How will you track your progress toward your goals?
13. What’s your strategy for improving your physical strength and endurance?
14. How will you build mental toughness and resilience in 2025?
15. What specific drills or techniques will you focus on to improve your game?
16. What will you do to become a better teammate?
17. How will you seek out and apply feedback to improve?
18. What’s one area of your mental game (e.g., focus, confidence) you will strengthen?
19. How will you balance short-term goals with your long-term vision?
20. What’s one thing you can do every day to stay committed to your goals?
21. How will you manage distractions that could pull you away from your goals?
22. What steps will you take to recover effectively from setbacks or injuries?
23. How will you use the offseason to prepare for peak performance during the season?
24. What’s one new skill or habit you’ll commit to learning in 2025?
25. How will you hold yourself accountable for achieving your goals and results?

Winter is for workers. The results you want in 2025 won’t come from wishing—they’ll come from working. Take the time now to reflect on 2024 and plan for 2025, knowing that the habits you build today will shape your success tomorrow.

The question is: Are you ready to take full responsibility for your potential? The choice is yours.

Let’s make 2025 a year of results.

Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today.

If you found this inspiring and thought-provoking, or if you have any questions, comments or concerns, add me on Discord and let’s go deeper.

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.

 

 

As we enter the critical months from December through January, this isn’t just the offseason—it’s the building season. This is the time for hitters to focus on building habits: actions performed repeatedly and instinctively, without thought.

True habits don’t happen by accident; they are forged through tens of thousands of intentional reps, requiring commitment and discipline.

For me, commitment means making a promise to myself, for myself, before anyone else. Discipline, on the other hand, is about doing what needs to be done, even when I don’t feel like doing it. Together, these two qualities lay the foundation for habit-building.

Unfortunately, too many players rely on hope during the winter months. They cling to the idea that somehow, when spring arrives, they’ll be ready. But hope is not a winning strategy. Hope doesn’t build muscle memory. Hope doesn’t create confidence. Hope doesn’t lead to success.

Habit-Building vs. Hope-Having

The opposite of hope isn’t despair; it’s building. Building requires action, intentionality, and an unrelenting focus on growth. Habit-building isn’t just about showing up to hit—it’s about doing the physical, mental, emotional, and even soul work necessary to grow as a hitter and as a person.

Too often, I see springtime roll around with hitters who spent their winter banking on hope rather than building habits. The flowers bloom, the trees sprout leaves, and yet these boys haven’t put in the work. They step into the batter’s box hoping for success, but they lack the habits to make it happen.

In Part 2, we’ll dive deeper into how habits are formed and why deliberate practice—rather than just going through the motions—is the key to sustained success.

Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today.

If you found this inspiring and thought-provoking, or if you have any questions, comments or concerns, add me on Discord and let’s go deeper.

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.

Welcome back to Week 2 of our TRIAL series. Last week, we focused on Testing—trying new things, stepping outside of our comfort zones, and discovering what works and what doesn’t. This week, we shift our attention to the next letter in TRIAL: R for Reflect.

Testing is only the first step. Now, it’s time to Reflect on what those tests have shown us. In baseball, reflection is key to growth. Every swing, every pitch, every moment on the field gives you feedback.

The question is: Are you paying attention to it? This week is about taking the time to analyze and honestly evaluate your performance.

Ask yourself:

• What new approaches have I tried?
• Which techniques worked, and why?
• Which ones didn’t work, and how can I learn from that?
• Am I using integrity to assess myself honestly, even when it’s difficult to admit where I need improvement?

Reflection is all about learning from experience. It’s not just about knowing what went well—it’s also about understanding what didn’t and why. This is where integrity, our core value for October, really comes into play. Integrity means being truthful with yourself about your progress. It’s easy to ignore weaknesses or areas that need work, but true integrity requires us to confront them head-on.

This week, I challenge you to take time to really reflect on your tests from last week. Journal about what worked and what didn’t. Have discussions with your teammates or coaches. The goal isn’t to criticize yourself, but to gain insight.

The Assessment Phase is about finding out what does and doesn’t work so that, when we enter the Build Phase in November, we’re ready to strengthen the right habits. Reflection is a crucial part of that preparation.

Next week, we’ll move to the I for Implement—where we’ll take what we’ve learned from our reflection and begin putting it into action. But first, let’s make sure we’ve gathered the insights we need by reflecting with integrity this week.

Take the time. Be honest. And reflect on your journey so far.

Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today.

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.

As we enter the final month of our August through October Assessment Phase, it’s time to reflect on the progress we’ve made and gear up for our Winter Workouts. October marks the end of the fall baseball season for most teams, but for us, it’s a pivotal month where we not only close one chapter but also prepare for the next.

We’ve spent the last two months committing to trying new things, testing our boundaries, and learning what works and what doesn’t.

Now, with October here, we dive into the first week of our TRIAL series—an acronym that will guide us through this final phase of assessment. Over the next five weeks, we’ll explore each letter of the word TRIAL:

T – Test
R – Reflect
I – Implement
A – Adjust
L – Learn

In this first week, we begin with T for Test. Testing is critical in this phase. As hitters, this is your time to push the limits, try new stances, new approaches at the plate, and experiment with techniques that you may not have considered before. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s discovery. This is your chance to get out of your comfort zone and really test your capabilities.

Integrity is our core value for October, and it aligns perfectly with this phase. Integrity means doing the right thing even when no one is watching, even when the easier route might be more tempting.

In the context of this month, it means being honest with yourself about what’s working and what’s not, even if it means admitting that a favorite technique isn’t as effective as you thought. Are you ready to test yourself and trust the process?

As we progress, we’ll be reflecting on these tests, implementing what works, adjusting where necessary, and learning from every experience. November through January will be our Build Phase, where we take what we’ve learned and start building strength and habits around those findings.

So, let’s get to work. Test your limits this week. Push yourself, and remember: Growth happens when we commit to trying new things, even when it’s uncomfortable. Integrity demands it.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog where we’ll dive into the R for Reflect and continue this journey together.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today.

If you found this inspiring and thought-provoking, or if you have any questions, comments or concerns, add me on Discord and let’s go deeper.

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.

Humility is often misunderstood. Many people think it means thinking less of yourself, but that’s not the case. True humility, as I define it, is thinking of others more than yourself. It’s about shifting your focus outward while still recognizing your own value.

For me, August, September, and October are months of assessment. This is my time to experiment as a coach, to try new things, to find out what works and what doesn’t. I apply a phased approach to my coaching and my life. These three months are dedicated to the assessment phase—figuring out what’s successful and what’s not. I allow myself the grace to try, fail, and adjust.

Once I’ve learned from the assessment phase, November, December and January become the engagement phase. This is where I commit to building habits and strength based on what works. The groundwork I lay in these months creates a strong foundation for growth. It’s about doing the hard work consistently, getting stronger in what works and applying that growth in every aspect of life.

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Minority Baseball Prospects National Showcase at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. It was incredible to see so many high-level African-American teenage boys on the field, performing with confidence. You could feel their energy and see their confidence in the way they carried themselves, like peacocks spreading their feathers, knowing they had already proven themselves.

As I watched them, I couldn’t help but notice the symbolism. I wore my Fruition Hat Company straw hat with a peacock feather, and it reminded me of the power of confidence and humility combined.

Confident people who are humble are some of the best people to be around. Our confidence shows that we are good at what we do, and our humility ensures that we will always do our best for others. Confidence is rooted in past performance, and humility is the mindset that keeps us grounded and focused on serving others.

I believe that true confidence and humility work hand in hand. They lead us to keep pushing ourselves to be better while remaining grounded in service to others.

To guide my journey, I’ve created an acronym for “Humility:”

H – Help others first
U – Understand your value
M – Measure your growth, not your ego
I – Inspire through action
L – Listen more, speak less
I – Invest in others’ success
T – Take responsibility for mistakes
Y – Yield to learning

These principles remind me to stay rooted in humility while growing in confidence.

1. How can I use my strengths to serve and uplift others?
2. What feedback have I received that can help me grow, and how can I apply it?
3. In what areas of my life am I confident, and how can I remain humble in those areas while continuing to improve?

As I move into these assessment months, I keep these questions in mind to stay focused on growth, humility and the bigger picture.

Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today.

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.