The definition of “clutch”

Did you watch the Rockies/Cardinals game last night? The Rockies were down 9-3 going into the 9th inning, and pulled off an incredible come-from-behind win. Lefty Seth Smith’s 3-run home run in the bottom of the 9th capped an incredible and unexpected win. In his post-game interview, Seth (Eli Manning’s backup QB at Ole Miss, by the way) had the greatest quote:

“Clutch is preparation meeting opportunity.” – Seth Smith

I really love this saying. And it definitely makes me think about my current situation.

Last week I had opportunities to get two sizable jobs that would have jumpstarted my fledgling freelance business, and would have gotten me off Unemployment. Both slipped through my fingers. My new goal is to be better prepared for next time, so that when similar opportunities come up, I can snap those jobs up.

So I’m working on expanding my expertise and promoting my talents better. I’ll get the hang of this eventually.

Something about being clutch is also knowing what it’s like to just miss out on being clutch. I think that missing out on these helps us understand lots of things about ourselves, and hopefully I can take these near-misses and translate my knowledge about them into bullseyes. Opportunity is everywhere.