Today life is great for me and full of many blessings.

9 month old daughter. Married to an amazing person.

I even own a successful real estate businesses in St. Louis. The investment branch is actually one of the biggest we buy houses companies in St. Louis.

But things weren’t always how they are now…

Just a few years ago things were not going well. I was on the brink of bankruptcy – my real estate business was really struggling, and I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills.

Then it got worse.

I hit my head and suffered two catatonic seizures.

Now I not only was broke but I wasn’t allowed to drive for 6 months

On top of the financial ruin I was facing, it was now illegal for me to drive in the state of Missouri for 6 months… (which is kindof an important thing to be able to do in real estate)

This was the low point of my life. I had hit rock bottom.

During my low point I reverted back to what I knew worked and had given me my past successes in my life.

So, in my darkest hour I went back to my roots, to the lessons that Coach Nicollerat taught me.

Had Coach only been concerned with wins and loses and teaching me baseball, I wouldn’t have had a foundation to stand upon when the going got tough.

Coaching baseball right to me means so many things.  It means teaching our kids how to learn from our mistakes… How to grow into better people… How to have honor in victory, and how to hold your head up high in defeat.

Its the ultimate lesson in the importance of how attitude and why you are doing something can overcome any obstacle.

The human spirit can overcome anything that gets in its way…if you work hard enough and refuse to quite.

When coached properly, our kids can learn that putting themselves out there and going after their dreams is worth it no matter what the risk is…and we can coach and give our kids the confidence needed to go after their dreams and live a dynamic, purpose filled life.

Because Coach Nicollerat coaches baseball the right way, I learned from him that everything must have a purpose – to get better.

You have to focus on getting better every single throw. Your preparation, intensity and work ethic at practice carries over into your performance in games when everything is on the line.

Then in the game you let loose, have fun and whether you win or lose you can hold your head up high knowing that you gave it your best shot.

When you lose, you take the lesson, learn from it, make the necessary adjustments and get better. You aren’t allowed to sulk in the corner and feel bad for yourself. You have to pick yourself up, refocus, and get back up ready for next time.

I took these lessons and applied them into my real estate career. I was able to take a step back, make the proper adjustments and learn from my mistakes. I reinvented myself and my real estate career.  And slowly, got a little better each day and got myself out of the hole I had created for myself.

Without Coach’s lessons being ingrained in me over the years, I would have faltered. I would have failed when the going got tough.

I would have not had a foundation to rest upon when life knocked me down, and to help build me back up. I didn’t understand when I was a player, but coach was always challenging us. He wanted to know:

Who were we going to be when we grew up?

What type of husband?

What type of co-worker?

What type of person were we going to be when the going got tough?

What type of teammate would we be when someone else failed on our team? Would we pick them up, or make them feel worse?

Who were we when no one is watching?

Important – My challenge to YOU

Think deeply about these three questions:

How valuable is a win in a little league game?
How valuable is teaching kids life lessons that they can then apply when they grow up?

Which coach at the end of the day really wins?

The coach fixated on winning, or the coach that coaches baseball right?

I’ve come to realize that part of being human is that we all have highs and lows. But its our attitude, and our why that allows us to overcome any obstacle that life has thrown at us.

Baseball is a brutal game.

You fail…and you fail…and you fail…and then you fails some more…

Then hopefully you get a couple of hits, and at the end of the year you are considered a great hitter if you hit over .300.

At the same time, its because of this that I can think of no better game to prepare a kid for the harsh reality of the real world than baseball.

Baseball would have tried to teach me these important lessons, but without the guidance of Coach Nicollerat they would have all gone over my head.

I would have just seen the balls and strikes. The outs. The wins and loses. I would have just seen the game and not noticed that there were things bigger and more important that could be learned.

So baseball teaches you the important lessons IF you are lucky enough to have a Coach that Coaches Baseball Right.

Coach Nicollerat – I’m not sure if I’ve ever thanked you…so here we go…thank you for Coaching Baseball Right – it has made all the difference in the world in my life…a big part of what I am today can be tied back to the lessons you taught me when I was a pimple faced teenager…and its why I wanted to be a part of this…so that others may learn to also coach baseball right and make a difference in their kids lives the way you did in mine.

May you always coach baseball right,

Jim Manning

STL Real Estate, Principal
Co-Founder – CoachBaseballRight.com (aka – the website nerd)