Today is the 50th blog post of my #365of25 journey. It’s feels odd to have posted so many, as it seems like I’ve only just gotten started. At the same time, it has become such a habit of mine that I can’t imagine going to bed without posting.

When thinking about this post I remembered something from my school days. One of my goals every year since I was 8 or 9 was to score a 50 in a cricket game.

On a number of occasions I got close. A 42 here, a 38 there.

But I never got my 50, not even in high school.

I played a season of cricket at university but over five or six games I only totaled around 20 runs.

I never understood why I couldn’t get there. I had the ability… I could play some spectacular shots. I also practiced often, at home and at school.

Reflecting on this, I realized that it wasn’t my ability to play the ball that let me down. It was my temperament. I attempted to hit every ball I faced as hard as I could. I lacked the ability to build an innings with patience, to keep a steady head and to be consistent.

In some ways, I do the same in life. I go in hard at everything I do, which is great sometimes. But it prevents me from building up sustainable momentum. I approach all my work with the need to hit it out the park.

I think this is an area that I will begin actively working on in 2018. I need to manage my temperament and patiently build up my work as I go.

One day I’ll join a cricket club and work on my shots as well as my game mentality.

And one day I’ll raise my bat for my 50.

Image was taken at Newlands Stadium during a T20 match last year

Blog 50/365.