You Bet

If you know me, you know I love baseball. I have been a New York Yankees fan my entire life. I watch all of their games, and am so intrigued by Aaron Judge, the Yankee superstar who plays right field. He is hard to root against; he seems as great a person as he is a player. He is larger than life. However, this could be his last season with the Yankees because his contract is up. He can be a free agent if he wishes. Basically, this means any team can sign him. The Yankees offered him a seven-year, $213-million-dollar contract. Judge is 30 years old. He rejected the contract. When he did, my immediate thought was, "Wow, this guy is greedy. He’s making a mistake." And many fans agree.

However, this fan has changed his mind. I fully support him.

Aaron Judge said he will bet on himself. In other words, "I’m going to play and let’s see the year I have—or better put—if I play well, someone, including the Yankees, will pay me more."

My point here is that he is showing his confidence in his own ability. Judge has shown the first and best quality of a leader on and off the job. He leads the MLB with 14 home runs, and he is third in RBIs, 12th in hits, and third in slugging percentage. His fielding and arm strength is top 5 in baseball. It's early in the season, but he has put himself in the MVP discussion already. Talk about putting up numbers when you are betting on yourself!

My point here is: bet on yourself. Lead; do not follow. You are the only person that you need to believe in. You are the only person you should listen to. Is it risky? A gamble? You bet it is, but don’t you owe it to yourself to take that risk? If you don’t make that bet, you will never know.