The Joe Dimaggio Principle

Joe Dimaggio is one of the best baseball players ever. Everyone who watched him play agrees that he was one of the few people born to play the game.

In fact, he seemed to play with such ease that one photographer who watched him suggested that “maybe it was the other way around, like the game was made for him”.

Yet despite his natural talent, Dimaggio played harder than everyone else.

Once, during a game where his team was up by 10 in the final inning, Joe Dimmagio dove into the stands to catch a foul ball.

Everyone wanted to know: “WHY?”

“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best," Dimmagio replied.

When speaking to Zach Bryan, Joe Rogan mentioned this quote & Zach described his own version of this principle:

“I look out at the audience and I pick out one kid. Whoever it is, I pick out one kid who’s in it. I’m like, ‘Man, this one’s for you.”

This makes perfect sense to me. The best art is so personal that it becomes universal.

The practice of focusing on one fan reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut’s writing advice:

“Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”

The takeaway, then, is twofold:

1. Focus narrowly on one person/subgroup. This will allow for intensity and focus that dispersed attention cannot achieve.

Share what happened to you, but more importantly, tell people how it made you feel. There are an infinite amount of stories but only a handful of emotions.

And for those who can’t seem to understand what you do?

It’s not for them.

2. Always give your best effort. This is likely the first or last impression someone will get of you & your work.

This conversation, speech, product release, or song may be the final impression someone gets of you.

Do you really want to leave that to chance by giving a half-hearted effort?

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