There I was, sitting on the pre-grid in a 1960 Lotus 18, waiting for the flag to drop at my first vintage race. It was raining and the dicey weather, along with my rookie anxiety was wrapped in a surge of adrenaline that had my head spinning. As a result my right leg was shaking like leaf. I remember reaching down with my hand to stop it from vibrating and asking myself “What am I doing here? I have a wife and kids. There are employees at the office that rely on me. I could die!” Then a comment that a friend told me flashed through my skull.
Success comes from doing the hard, scary things.
Trying something new, that’s well out of your comfort zone, is always hard. Fortunately it provides you with a tremendous opportunity to focus. In racing, focus is absolutely key, not only to your safety but for winning. We all have lots of things going on in our lives and it is easy to ignore those things that are hard, difficult, uncomfortable, and that make us afraid.
Focus makes the hard things possible.
This is why it is difficult to focus. It forces you to face what you are attempting to do especially when it is difficult. The successful podcaster, John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire loves the word FOCUS and defines the acronym as…
Follow One Course Until Successful
Focus is a challenge because it means you have to acknowledge that what you are about to do could be difficult and scary. And it’s worth every minute of your efforts. What about that first race of mine? I survived, even after another rookie lost control right in front of me and destroyed his car by bouncing off two concrete Jersey barriers. I went on to race for several years, learning to focus better every time I turned a lap. Eventually that right leg settled down as well.
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