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Good Afternoon. Here is a great thought for the day:

Because of the success I achieved in sales, I had the good fortune to pursue another passion of mine — motorsports. I had a dream to race at the Indy 500 — I like to dream big. Living in Indianapolis at the time, I was overexposed to the world of motorsports. It was intoxicating. So, I went to racing school to learn to drive open-wheel racecars. After spending a year racing in the Skip Barber race series, a racing friend of mine (who actually did try to qualify for Indy) took me under his wing. His brother owned a race team in Texas and I signed up to race one of his formula Fords in the Sports Car Club of America series (SCCA).

My first race was in October of 1993 at Gateway International in St. Louis, MO. As the race started, I was able to hang with the leaders for the first quarter of the race. They were a bit quicker than me and by the midpoint they had pulled into a half-lap lead. I became a bit frustrated and began pushing the limits of my car in an effort to catch them. As a result, I pushed my car deep into a corner and lost control, spinning out and losing valuable time. Fortunately I was able to quickly get back on track but it seemed unlikely that I could catch the leaders. I was devastated by my mistake — winning seemed out of reach.

Sitting in my cockpit speeding down the backstretch with the cars behind quickly catching up, I had a decision to make. Did I get down on myself and "coast" around the final laps in despair? Or did I pull my belts tight, put my nose down and set a new realistic goal? I drew upon my commitment to finish strong and decided to try to turn the fastest lap of the race. I remember saying out loud, "Come on Dan, Finish Strong." I took control of my emotions and got it going. My vision became clear, everything slowed down around me, and my focus became intense. On the next to final lap, I passed two cars ahead of me. Coming out of the last turn with one lap to go I could barely see the two leaders at the end of the front stretch diving into turn one.

As I came through turn one, I was shocked to see that the number one and two cars ahead of me had crashed and taken themselves out of the race. I couldn't believe it. Coming out of the last turn, I saw the checkered flag waving. I won! I was shocked. Had I given up after my spin I would never have caught and passed the two cars in front of me and put myself in a position to win.

We all have spin-outs, we all fall behind. But by choosing to finish, I ended up winning the first SCCA race I entered. In racing they say that in order to finish first, you must first finish. It's another way of saying success is simply getting up one more time than you fall down.

"SUCCESS SEEMS TO BE CONNECTED WITH ACTION. SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE KEEP MOVING. THEY MAKE MISTAKES, BUT THEY DON'T QUIT."

- Conrad Hilton

Have a wonderful day.

"Each morning is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When the sun rises tomorrow this day will be gone forever, in its place will be something you have left — may it be something good. Follow your heart, it knows what to do."

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