The Power Of Daily Reminders (Rickey Henderson’s Un-Cashed $1m Check)

Baseball legend, Rickey Henderson, wanted to remind himself he “made it.” 

He wanted, daily, to walk past the check for $1 million – from the Oakland A’s – marking the point his life changed forever. 

And not just because of the amount of money, but because of the validation the check represented.

So he framed the check. 

As in, he framed the check and didn’t cash it.

Seriously. He didn’t cash the million-dollar check. He put it in a frame, hung it on the wall, and didn’t think much more about it.  

It didn’t take long for the A’s finance department to catch the extra million bucks that wasn’t balancing in their checkbooks and trace it back to Rickey. They reached out and talked him into depositing the original and keeping a photocopy on the wall. He obliged. 

The power of this story is in knowing what we need regular reminders of. 

If we’re doing it right, there is no equivalent dollar value of these reminders, just the mythology in our minds. 

I don’t have any million-dollar checks to frame (yet), but I do have some very deliberate pictures over my workspace. 

Take a tip from Rickey Henderson. Cash the checks, but keep the reminders top of mind. 

h/t David R. for sending me this story after I shared the crazy Oasis/autographed check story last week. If you see something, send it my way!