“I raised you to be a thoroughbred. When thoroughbreds run they wear blinders to keep their eyes focused straight ahead with no distractions, no other horses. They hear the crowd but they don’t listen. They just run their own race. That’s what you have to do. Don’t listen to anyone comparing you to me or to anyone else. You just run your own race.”
Excerpted from The Right Words at the Right Time (Atria Books, January 2004) by Marlo Thomas.
So this message was powerful to me and I asked myself the question ‘How much more would YOU accomplish if YOU stopped looking over at the person beside YOU?’
How do you put on blinders? You mind your own business! You’ve heard this everywhere, from anyone of influence.
Minding your own business isn’t a bad thing like most people think. It’s about not worrying about what everyone else is doing or where they are going, but about what YOU are doing and where YOU are going and what YOU want to achieve. It’s about looking straight ahead and not shifting that focus. Keep your eyes on the prize!
Thoroughbred horses are known for their speed and agility. They are bred to race, they are very competitive, and they want to win! When a thoroughbred horse is racing, it never looks over at the other horses. It’s focused on running the fastest race it can while staying in its own lane.
As business owners, we can learn a lot from why thoroughbred horses don’t look at their competition. First, it’s distracting. The horse knows they will lose focus and slow down. Second, looking at the other horses can be intimidating. If the horse sees the other horse has moved ahead, they risk becoming discouraged and giving up.
Third, and possibly the most important, looking at the other horses in the race can be dangerous. If the horse is focused on another horse, it may not see the hazards that lie ahead and an trip, fall and fail to finish. Likewise, as business owners, if we focus on the other detailer down the street, we take our eye off the goal and can trip and fall on the way to our own success.
It’s possible to teach a thoroughbred horse to not look at other horses. With patience and discipline, it’s also possible for you to ignore the other guy and just focus on you and your business. Andy Frisella said it best…