If you aren’t familiar with the Grand National Steeplechase (which is held in Aintree in the United Kingdom (usually in April of each year, but not in 2020, because of the quarantine resulting from COVID-19), you really should check it out. It is an event that nearly 600 million viewers worldwide tune in to watch each year. It is the most famous Steeplechase in the world. It is a horse race that is held on a four and a half mile course where horse and rider must jump 30 hurdles at top speeds. If you take a moment to type in “Grand National Steeplechase” on You Tube, you can see the races where in many cases, the leader is overtaken at the very end by another rider.
Here is a link to view the 2019 race:
The persistence of the leader who wins and all those who stayed on their horses through the harrowing nature of the
race reminds me of the obstacles and challenges we must all face in business from day to day. Many times you’ll see a horse without a rider running alongside the other competing horses because of the obstacles or hurdles in the race which have unseated the rider. It is not just the jumps that cause people to fall. It is also collisions with other competitors who are trying to jump over the obstacles in the same place at the same time. You may have lost a sale recently to one of your competitors or heard of a customer you worked with closely decide to buy somewhere else at the last minute. There is nothing more frustrating than that. The key to success is to keep riding, to keep your eye on the goal, and to keep moving forward until you cross the finish line each day you are in the race. It can be disheartening to get back on when you’ve fallen off and especially if you’ve gotten knocked off. Many businesses are re-opening today across the world as restrictions from the coronavirus quarantine are being lifted.
According to an account on Wikipedia, “1956 saw one of the National’s more bizarre incidents that ever occurred at the Grand National Steeplechase. The favored horse, Devon Loch, owned by HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, had cleared the final fence in leading position five lengths clear of the next closest horse ESB. Only forty yards from what seemed like certain victory, the horse suddenly appeared to half jump in the air before collapsing in a belly flop on the turf. Despite efforts by jockey Dick Francis, Devon Loch was unable to complete the race, leaving ESB to cross the finish line first. Had Devon Loch completed the race he may have set a new record for fastest finishing time, which ESB missed by only four fifths of a second. Many explanations have been offered for Devon Loch’s behavior, but the incident remains inexplicable. In modern language, ‘to do a Devon Loch’, is used to describe a last minute failure to achieve an expected victory.”
You can see a video of the 1956 race here:
I personally have never heard the phrase “to do a Devon Loch” before, but we are all familiar with the concept of choking under pressure (which would fit under the definition described above). Choking under pressure occurs in sports because the athlete focuses so much on their specific performance that they overthink the performance instead of relying on their trained reflexes which they’ve acquired through repeated practice.
As you’ve experienced the ups and downs of your business this past year (especially if you were closed or continue to be closed during the quarantine), have you caught yourself overthinking your performance? Have you focused on external factors as the cause for why you aren’t where you want to be instead of focusing on the fundamentals?
There are plenty enough obstacles in our way to be successful in business without getting in our own way. My encouragement to you is to focus on the fundamentals and work on improving one area of your life and business at a time, especially as you are moving forward. You can’t get back the time you’ve lost over the past two months while you were in quarantine. Instead, when the hurdle or the obstacle appears, have the confidence in your ability to soar over those challenges instead of overthinking what you must do and then falling because of your slight hesitation.
All of us have lost a sale as a result of focusing too much on what we were saying instead of focusing on a prospect’s wants and needs. Practice the fundamentals of selling. Get good at overcoming every objection that prospects have. Train your sales consultants how to overcome objections before they come up. Build their confidence through focused practice that helps them learn what to say, how to say it and why it should be said.
Sterling Sill once observed: “Hurdles are put in our way for a constructive purpose to develop us. No one ever learns horsemanship on a tame horse. It is not the path of least resistance that builds strength and power and courage and initiative. It is not the peaceful sea that makes the skillful mariner. When the sea is calm, all boats alike show mastership in sailing.”—The Laws of Success, p. 122.
One of the results from the Great Recession of 2007 and 2008 is that business owners had to return to the fundamentals. The tumultuous times we find ourselves in are what help us to develop the skills we need to get our businesses back on track and progress to the next level. Difficulties make us stronger because we learn how to beat resistance in order to succeed. You are in a race in business. You likely have competitors and others around you who try to knock you out of the saddle with unkind words and shady business practices. There are all kinds of obstacles that get thrown up in your way everyday. The key to succeeding and finishing the race is to focus on where you are going (while remaining keenly aware of what is happening around you) and jumping over the hurdles that appear in your path with confidence.
Don’t see your struggles as hurdles you can’t overcome. Instead, see the opportunities in your obstacles. They are designed to strengthen you. Your competitors are facing these obstacles too. Determine that you will jump over the hurdles as they come and be strong, focused and determined to leap over each one of them as you battle your way to the front. With this focus, you will develop the skills you need to succeed and will slowly pass your competitors and win the race. Then, at the finish line, when your skills and performance have been seen for what they are, your customers will stand up, cheer and let the rest of the world know about you and your business and the great accomplishment you have made in helping them finish the race utilizing the product and service they have bought from you.
