On Sunday, May 26th, 2013 Tony Kanaan won the Indianapolis 500 Race for the first time. This race is like the Wimbledon of tennis, the Master’s in golf, or the Daytona 500 for NASCAR. It is a big deal, it is the prime event of the Indy car world.
Tony Kanaan was a past client of mine and the reason I want to share this victory with you if for 2 reasons.
FIRST:
I want to honor and congratulate Tony on an amazing victory.
This victory epitomizes what it means to be a champion. Tony has been so persistent over the years. He has raced the Indy 500 12 times and had the most leading laps for 8 of them without a win (a record). Let me repeat that – he had the most leading laps in 8 of them without the win. Tony persisted year after year and this race was no different. In fact he took the lead 15 times this year (the most ever by a winner). Tenacious is what comes to mind and that is exactly what Tony is.
Hat’s off to you Tony.
SECOND:
I want to share with you how Tony’s success was possible using “The Slight Edge” principles.
I few weeks back I shared with you that I was reading a pivotal book in my life called The Slight Edge and Tony Kanaan’s performance illustrates the principles in this book brilliantly. The underlying principle of this book is that those that are successful do the little things consistently over time that may not make a difference initially but when added up over years become game changers.
Tony is probably one of the hardest workers I have ever worked with. He is probably one of the strongest racers on the Indy car circuit, not by genetics but by hard work. He puts in hours to condition his body so that when the right moment came he could seize it. Tony does lots of corrective and restorative work on his body so that he can recover quicker and perform daily at the highest level. He has been doing this year after year. Like most successful people, Tony has built a team of experts, coaches, advisers to help him be at peak performance and injury free all year round.
– Are their days that Tony doesn’t feel like training? Yes.
– Are their days he would rather hang out on the beach instead of practicing? Yes.
– Would skipping one workout or practice hurt his performance? Probably not.
– Will doing that one workout or practice make the difference? Probably not.
That is just it. It is not about doing it one time but doing it daily. Malcom Gladwell in his NY Times Bestselling book, Outliers talks about doing 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery. If Tony practiced 2 hours/day every year for 13 years it would get him to those 10,000 hours. Interesting that he has raced Indy 500 12 times.
Any correlations you think?
Integrity is doing the things you are supposed to do when no one is watching. Tony lives integrity. Now to watch all those years of hard work, all those years of being persistent, and all those years of being so close to winning, finally culminate to this victory is priceless.
Now it is your turn…
If you are willing to endure and work hard for what you want here are 4 Key Factors that helped Tony Kanaan be successful that can help you too.
1. Know what you want and go after it.
2. Work for it daily with integrity.
3. Build a team of experts, coaches, support around you to help you be at your best.
4. Be prepared and seize the moment.
I am sure you have heard these 4 key factors before because these are traits that all successful people exhibit. It’s no secret but the question is have you been applying them?
If you haven’t don’t wait for things to be perfect. They never will. Execute today, be persistent, be patient, and watch success unfold.
Cheers,
AC
*PS – One last congrats to Tony. So very proud and happy for you and your team. 🙂
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