In every business and every sport, there is a time to turn it on. It’s when you are watching a football game and you see the momentum change. It is usually when the team that just scored gets a new look, refreshed perspective, and decides they can win the game. That’s when you see them turn it on.
I believe when you see that happen in sports, it is one of the most motivating things you can witness. One of the greatest I remember was watching Jack Nicklaus win his 6th green jacket at the Masters Golf Tournament when he was 46 years old. When he made the turn at #10 he was in the tournament, but no one thought he had a chance. By the time he got to #15 and birdied the hole, everyone thought he may just have a chance. By the time he was standing on the 18th tee, he was dead center and laser-focused because he believed he could actually win. It was one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.
We have three pictures hanging on our office wall of Jack Nicklaus winning this 1986 Masters. You can look at the pictures, and you know that Jack was in full on throttle mode.
I have watched athletes over the years turn it on and turn it off. The problem with turning it off is that you can’t always get it back on. The wisdom is to go full out every time you pick up the club or the ball or get behind the wheel.
If you were a farmer, it is no different because when it is harvest time, it is also showtime. Time to do what you were born to do and to do it the best you can. The farmer just lives through the spring and summer months and gets tired and frustrated, but then one day he stands on his back porch and sees that it is harvest time. He gets on his clothes and turns it on.
In business, there are times when you ride in the pack and conserve energy and then there are times when you break out really turn it on. I am an amateur cyclist and ride with a local group. There is no other sport quite like cycling when it comes to riding in the pack and then making a sprint. When you watch the pro tours like the Tour de France, which ended a couple of weeks ago, there were several stages of the race where one rider got way ahead of the pack and everyone thought they would win the stage. Every time that happened, that rider that was ahead was overtaken at the end. See, you cannot ride out front all the time, and you can’t win every fight or every battle. I heard it said that you can win the war without winning every battle. Good advice.
So in business, you will not win every deal or make every sale, but the objective is to not quit trying. Many people fail and switch careers when they don’t have instant success. Usually the ones that win are the ones that stick around long enough to figure out how to win. So, when it is showtime, it is all business. KT