What it means to turn pro.

by | May 16, 2014 | Mindset, Thoughts and Rants

Turning pro is an interesting concept. It seems straightforward at first, right? A pro football player is someone who plays football for a living. Getting drafted and entering the big leagues is considered ‘turning pro’. A professional driver is someone who pays their bills and feeds their family through racing, whether that’s from t-shirt sales or their cut of the winnings. Going pro might also be thought of as a way of carrying oneself. “That Johnny…he’s a real pro.” They dress and act professionally, have a certain type of appearance and lifestyle. They have a professional attitude; they’re careful to say and do the right things. But there’s a third way to go pro, and it has little to do with how much money you make or the label on your t-shirt. It’s a mindset. It’s a decision that everyone who wants to achieve something great has to make. Simply put, a pro is the opposite of an amateur. A pro is someone who consistently pursues success at a given level. Most of us have a job to do and a dream to pursue. The difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is often a choice: whether they show up as a pro or as an amateur. I read a book a few years ago called The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield. In it, Pressfield defines the concept of turning pro – he’s since written a whole book on it. There are complexities to his definition, but to me, turning pro means making the decision to honor your dream by showing up and honoring your dream....

Budgeting for Racers: Applying the Gas and the Brake

by | May 8, 2014 | Mindset

A few weeks ago, I offered the chance to weigh-in on what I’m providing here at DirtyMouth with a survey. (You can still fill it out here.) One of the things that you wanted were resources that deal with the finances of running a race team. Today, I’m providing a budgeting worksheet specifically designed for you – it’s one of the things that really changed our game over the last few years and I hope it’ll help you do the same. With budgeting, you can go as simple or complex as you’d like. Obviously, the deeper you dig into your expenses and earnings, the better you can make decisions about your team. You can estimate how many races you can afford to run, what tracks and series races are worth the tow, and many other things like how many people you can afford to bring to the track with you, how much sponsorship you need to close the gap, etc. You can also see whether you’re making or losing money, and the more detail you go into the more you can see what parts of your program need adjustments. One suggestion: the earlier you start keeping track of what’s coming in and going out, the more accurate your calculations will become and the better off you’ll be. This means keeping track of everything you spend (receipts are great, and necessary for your tax preparer), and everything you make. I suggest making a photocopy on 8×11 of every receipt (and check!) you receive and putting them in a binder, then stashing the originals in a box. They’ll be easier to...

Why you’re going to win in the long run.

by | May 1, 2014 | Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Thoughts and Rants

I contend that showing up is everything – you can’t win a race that you don’t show up for. But, you might argue that not everyone that shows up at the racetrack wins. There’s only one winner in each race, and some teams will never taste that victory. You’re right. But parking your ride in the pits is just one part of showing up. You can’t just show up for a job interview and win the job, right? You have to show up to creating a killer resume, show up to your shower that morning, and show up in your words and body language when answering questions. To win a race, you can’t just show up at the track. You have to show up in the garage, show up for your sponsors, show up with your parts programs and show up with the right attitude towards the people who support you. Showing up isn’t just showing up. And that’s why I’m thrilled to tell you that you’re going to win the race against your competition over the long haul because you’re showing up by reading this. I’m not just saying this because it’s my content – there are many other places to get valuable information. You’re winning the long race because the majority of your competition isn’t reading or consuming any of it. While they’re focused on getting faster, you’re investing time and effort into making yourself better off the track and out of the garage. If you think every successful driver out there got that way just by winning races, you are dead wrong. They might not be the...

About that hangover.

by | Apr 25, 2014 | Mindset, Thoughts and Rants

There’s a thing that some people call the ‘comparison hangover’*. It’s when you spend lots of time looking enviously around at what your competition is doing. You think you’re being productive – trying to figure out how they created what they have – but really, you’re beating yourself up over why they’re ahead of you. As soon as you snap out of it, you feel like you’re on the wrong end of a whole pitcher of margaritas. Here’s my take on how to treat a comparison hangover in racing: Treatment #1: Get out of your (pounding) head. Instead of feeling bad about the guy next to you having more sponsors, better equipment, a better website, more Twitter followers, and a flawless paint scheme, take a step back. Ask yourself – are we at the same point in our racing careers? It’s easy to look at his race car, see nearly the same thing that you’ve built and assume that you should be on the same level. Yes, most of us are running a chassis that’s the same age as everyone else’s, with most of the same components. But you can’t assume that you know what’s going on under the hood of anyone else’s car anymore than you know what’s going on under the roof of their house. You can only compare apples to apples – race cars to race cars and drivers to drivers will never match up. Maybe you’re the same age, but he’s been racing for 10 years longer. Maybe you’ve been racing the same amount of time, but she races three times as often as you....