The 2024 World Series is Major League Baseball’s dream come true: two franchises in the biggest TV markets featuring two of the most famous players in the game.
One of those athletes is Shohei Ohtani, widely considered the best player in the league — and perhaps in the history of the game. When not injured, the 30-year-old superstar pitcher throws 100-mph fastballs. And on the other side of the plate, as a batter, he leads the league in home runs and is the only person in baseball to have 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in one year.
On the eve of Game 1, fitness coach Dan Founder took to Threads to break down the Harada Method, a system of setting and achieving goals that Ohtani learned from his high school coach Takashi Harada and utilized to accomplish so much in sports. Here’s how Founder broke it down:
“Here Shohei Ohtani’s list of goals, which is insane to look at in hindsight,” Founder wrote.
- Age 18: Join a MLB team
- Age 19: Master English and reach AAA
- Age 20: Called up to the majors, make 1.5 billion JPY (~13 million USD)
- Age 21: Starting rotation, 16 wins
- Age 22: Win the Cy Young award
- Age 23: Member of Japan WBC team
- Age 24: Throw a no-hitter and 25 wins
- Age 25: Throw fastest pitch in the world 175 kph (~108mph)
- Age 26: Win the World Series and get married
- Age 27: Member of Japan WBC team & MVP
- Age 28: 1st son is born
- Age 29: Throw 2nd no-hitter
- Age 30: Get most wins by a Japanese pitcher (in 1 MLB season?)
- Age 31: 1st daughter is born
- Age 32: Win 2nd World Series
- Age 33: 2nd son is born
- Age 34: Win 3rd World Series
- Age 35: Member of Japan WBC team
- Age 36: Break the strike out record?
- Age 37: 1st son starts baseball
- Age 38: Stats drop, start to think about retirement
- Age 39: Decide to retire at end of next season
- Age 40: Throw no-hitter in my very last game
- Age 41: Return to Japan
- Age 42: Introduce the American system to Japan?
Founder then broke down the framework of the Harada Method to show how Ohtani has achieved so much of this lofty list and more.
Step 1: Grade yourself on self-reliance
Using the following 33 categories, rate yourself on a scale of one to ten of how these words describe you, with one being “not accurate” and ten being “the most accurate.”
- Accountable
- Adaptable
- Authentic
- Brave
- Capable
- Caring
- Confident
- Creative
- Determined
- Ethical
- Flexible
- Highly skilled
- Honest
- Imaginative
- Independent
- Initiative
- Innovative
- Inspired – love to work
- Inquisitive
- Empowered
- Knowledgeable
- Motivated
- Organized
- Personable
- Prepared
- Realistic
- Responsible
- Self-managed
- Strategic
- Strong-willed
- Supportive
- Trustworthy
- Visionary
Step 2: Create your long-term goal
“This is your north star where your actions will be directed towards,” explains Founder. “It will organize your goals, purposes, self-analysis, and action plan.”
Step 3: Analyze obstacles
Once you determine the biggest hurdles between you and success, “you then create countermeasures to solve those obstacles before they happen,” says Founder. “This helps you plan tasks and routines to achieve the goal when the going gets rough.”
Related: Want to Inspire Your Team for Success? Check Out These 11 Quotes From World Series Champs.
Step 4: Create an Open 64 chart
This is a chart made up of eight nine-box grids, 72 boxes total. At the center of each nine-box grid, you put a big goal that will serve as a pillar of your overall achievement and surround that with eight small tasks that will help you achieve that big goal. In the end you will have 64 mini-tasks and routines that support getting to your long-term goals.
So for example, if one of your goals is being in great physical shape, you’d list eight tasks needed to get there — setting a workout schedule, committing to healthy eating, getting a health club membership, and the like.
Step 5: Create a checklist of routines
“It’s not enough to set a goal,” says Founder. “You must set a system of traits that will make the goal an inevitability. Have a list you check daily to ensure you’re taking the actions needed to make your vision a reality.”
Step 6: Keep a daily performance journal
“The journal is broken down into tasks to be completed and reflections on one’s performance at the end of the day,” writes Founder. “The journal builds self-awareness while keeping you aligned with your target.”
Related: Alex Rodriguez’s 4 Major League Keys to Success
Step 7: Enlist help
Founder ends by saying that the final step is to connect with a coach and a supportive community. “We cannot achieve things on our own,” he says. “Find a coach who can help you achieve success faster and stay accountable. Find people around you who can support and assist you on the way to achieving your goal.”
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