When Michael Lewis was young, he was a baseball player. He didn’t spend much time thinking about what he would do in his life or how.

In his first year of high school, he was sitting on the bench during a baseball game. Towards the end of the game, his team was holding on to a 2:1 lead. They’d gotten one out, and their pitcher’s reputation was such that they thought he was guaranteed to give them a win.

But their coach made an error. He went out to give advice to the pitcher for the second time in an innings, so they had to pull the pitcher out of the game.

Michael Lewis suddenly had to pitch. His coach walked up to him, put his hands on his shoulders and faced him very closely. He remained there for a moment before glancing at the third base and saying, “Pick him off.”

Michael went to the mound. There were runners on the first and third base.

It occurred to him that his coach really believed in him. He really felt that it was his moment.

All of a sudden, he shot the ball to third base and got the runner out. One down.

Then, it was the guy in front of him. Three strikes, and he was out.

The game was over, and they had won.

The next day, Michael was called to the Principal’s office. The Principal sat him down and commented on how tremendously he’d done under the pressure of the game.

His coach and Principal had created a new myth for him; a myth that said he could succeed, handle pressure, do the right thing at the right time and act under intense scrutiny. And from that point, he felt his life changing.