I want to introduce you to my friend Dan Green. Dan’s the type of guy that seems to always win in life. He’s successful both personally and professionally. He has a loving family, many friends, he’s an inventor, author, speaker and a successful entrepreneur. Dan and I met about two years ago and quickly discovered we both had a passion for open wheel auto racing (Indy/Formula 1) which led to a discussion that became a life lesson for me that I’ll never forget and after today I hope you will always remember it too!
In the world of auto racing there are several levels (like everything in life) and Dan shared with me that while he was working his way up racing in the Formula Ford series he found himself literally “out of the race” in fact he was so far behind the lead that it looked like there was absolutely no chance he could even place in the top ten.
Now here’s the magic, even though he was “out of the race” he didn’t quit. Dan made a critical decision he forgot about “winning” and simply focused on improving his lap time, each time around the track. Every lap he ticked off his time improved just a little, lap after lap, he stayed focused on just competing with himself and doing his best.
While Dan was doing this the race leaders battled up front for position, trying to win the race, Dan just kept competing with himself and moving up one lap at a time. Without realizing it he began passing other cars and by the final lap he was in 3rd place.
Suddenly upfront somebody crashed and knocked the two cars ahead of him out of the race and I know you can guess the rest of the story…he won the race!
More important that winning the race though, Dan discovered a philosophy that would go on to serve him well in every area of life and now he share’s it with the world.
My big take away; Dan focused on only what he could control, his own performance, he challenged himself and he kept making adjustments along the way… knowing his only competition was really with himself, he simply gave it his very best and detached from the outcome – I’ll never forget this lesson and I’m grateful for the opportunity to share it with all of you.
“Regardless of what came before or of what has yet to come, what matters most is how you choose to respond to the challenge in front of you. Will you lie down or will you fight? The choice is yours. Choose to Finish Strong!” –Dan Green
PS If you enjoy this story you’ll love this short inspirational movie based on Dan’s new book “Finish Strong”.
