Are you rounding

the turn,

up against the rail,

or (Aaah!)

headed for the

home stretch?

     Have you ever equated owning and managing a business with being in a race? Aren’t most of us in fact so busy galloping over, under, and around the 37 zillion entrepreneurial business obstacles-to-success, that we seldom make the time to assess our own progress? When did we even come to appreciate what market position we’re in, let alone what racetrack we’re on?

     I was reminded yesterday by the simultaneous running of The Preakness (horse race), and The Dover Downs (NASCAR) Race Weekend of how rare the occasions are that we business owners race around and soundly outperform our own and others’ expectations.  How evasive that winner’s circle can be when we just charge forward with our heads down!

     Don’t we ALWAYS outperform ourselves the half-hour before lunch? The hour before closing? The days before vacation? The week before a holiday weekend? The days before a major sales or service event? The days before retirement? The days before the end of the month? The quarter? The year? 

WE EXCEL IN THE HOME STRETCH!

     Who doesn’t run fastest between third base and home plate? Between the 20-yard marker and the goal line? Or in the final lap of a race of any kind? And why is this? Okay. Here’s the place to insert all that profound motivational and psychological reasoning we all carry around on the tips of our tongues:__________________________.

     It seems to me, though, that when all is said and done, each of us protects the need to preserve some level of self-proclaimed legacy. Down deep inside, we want to make a difference! We want others to say “WOW!” and “Whew!” and “HOLY #%&*!” and be impressed and astonished with our performances.

     But why oh why do we have to punish ourselves by limiting our exceptional performances to occur only when we’ve reached some mythical last hurrah, when we’re at a point where every thing’s on the line, or the proverbial eleventh hour is upon us?

     What prevents us from thinking and acting at maximum productivity EVERY day, all year long? Why is some artificial prompt necessary to justify and prompt exemplary performance? Can’t we simply CHOOSE to have this winning attitude NOW? Today? Tomorrow? Everyday? Isn’t it a choice? Of course it is. SO . . . HOW to make it happen is the question.

     Try falsifying our calendars. Let’s put some major event that demands extraordinary production results in the third week of May. Why wait ’til two days before Memorial Day weekend to get cranked up? What about pretending our vacation is a month before it’s actually scheduled? Can we trick yourselves into believing that we have only a week (vs. a month) left until departure day?

     Our kids could do this in a flash. Maybe we can learn something from them about how to loosen up and be flexible and do stuff now that we may have thought we were not ready to do . . .?  

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!