© Robert Adrian Hillman | Dreamstime.com

I wrote this on June third, so it’s more than likely that by the time you read this, we either have another Triple-Crown Winner in California Chrome, or we don’t. [Editor’s Note: We don’t. California Chrome finished fourth in the Belmont]. Either way, as the Belmont Stakes rolls around each year, I’m reminded of perhaps the most famous horse ever and winner of the Triple-Crown back in 1973, Secretariat. If you haven’t seen the 2010 movie Secretariat, you need to. It’s both inspirational and motivational, the movie provides us with some great sales — as well as life — lessons. While Secretariat provides some good examples, perhaps even more are found in the jockey: Ronnie Turcotte, the trainer: Lucien Laurin, and especially in the owner: Penny Chenery.

Sales and Life Lessons

1) Keep the Pedal to the Metal

Secretariat won the third leg of the Triple-Crown, the Belmont Stakes, by a record 31 lengths. After Ronnie Turcotte allegedly ran another horse so hard that its heart exploded, several outsiders suggested that he not push Secretariat too hard in the Belmont, the longest of the three Triple-Crown races. Ronnie didn’t listen. Even if you have a huge lead on the competition, you never back off and you never rest on your laurels. As soon as you take a break or take your foot off the gas, you lose momentum, you start to slip into a comfort zone, and you begin to lose your hunger and drive. Too many things can go wrong in addition to the competition gaining on or passing you. Economies shift, stock markets crash, terrorist events happen, and all industries face major changes at some point. You need to ride the wave as long as possible when things are going well because there will be problems and setbacks at some point. When you’re last, you outwork everyone and push hard. The same rule applies when you’re first, or anywhere else in the pack for that matter — outwork everyone, keep pushing hard, keep the pedal buried.

2) You Have to Be Committed

Penny Chenery put it all on the line for Secretariat, she went all in. She risked financial ruin and stretched family relationships to the breaking point to do what she knew, in her heart, was the right thing to do. Anyone great at anything has had that moment where they had to decide between being involved in something and being committed. When you’re committed at the highest level you have extreme confidence and conviction. You have passion and you believe 100 percent in what you are doing. You burn all the boats, all the bridges, and all possible avenues of escape and decide you’ll either succeed or die trying. When you are committed you have a career instead of a job and you take complete responsibility for your success or failure. When you are committed you develop yourself personally and professionally and you are obsessed with doing whatever it takes to win, ethically of course. You turn over every stone, look under every rock, and you leave absolutely nothing to chance. On the few occasions when you do lose, you know there was nothing more you could have done.

3) It’s All About Heart

Secretariat’s heart was twice the size of an average horse. Your figurative heart needs to be just as large. When you watch Secretariat, you notice that all the important characters: Secretariat, Penny, Lucien and Ronnie all had a ton of heart. Heart is all about having the right attitude. Attitude is by far the biggest factor that will lead to your success or failure. Attitude means having the drive and determination to succeed. In sales and business, attitude also means always doing what’s right for the customer, always staying positive and upbeat with the customer, and always being willing to do whatever it takes to make the customer happy. Having a lot of heart and the right attitude also makes you extremely resilient, which leads to point number four….

4) It Doesn’t Matter Where You Start or Where You Are Right Now, It Only Matters Where You End Up

Secretariat, and especially the other characters in the movie, all faced several daunting obstacles along the way. You too will stumble and fall. You will have challenges both personally and professionally. There may be sleepless nights, times when you wake up at three in the morning wishing this was all a bad dream, or days when you’re down and depressed wondering how you’re going to make it. There will be times when your sales numbers are down, your business is hurting, and you consider quitting. Don’t. If you’ve got points number one, two, and three above covered, you should have the resolve to continue and carry on. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint. They’re not going to tally your final score until the end. It doesn’t matter if you have the lowest numbers in the office today, this week, or this month, what matters is that you hang in there, keep getting up every day, and keep swinging away. What matters is that you leave it all out on the field knowing you did the best you possibly could.

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