Impact Advice from Formula One
E-Impact 57 gave you three reason I love NASCAR. You may have been able to tell from writing that I’m not a big racing fan. I respect the motorsports and I think there are two things about them to behold; the level of intricacy in optimizing the vehicles and the ability for drivers to control the incredible powerful machines.
My appreciation for motorsports generally stops there due to lack of knowledge. I’ve had the pleasure of attending a NASCAR race and walking around the pits during the race and the level of respect I have for everyone involved can’t be expressed. It’s fair to say I am amazed by the “sport” of racing.
What may not be as easily recognized or explained is a race car driver’s ability to focus. I think this focus is another teaching point that we can glean from the world of sport.
Infotainment
I don’t believe Drive to Survive, Formula One’s (F-1) reality Netflix series (similar to HBO’s Hard Knocks of the NFL), was made for generosity inspiration (or even business motivation) but I love finding lessons in unexpected places.
Race car drivers risk their lives behind the wheel.
The series has been around since 2019 and was the product of F-1’s acquisition by Liberty Media. See Sports Rush’s article: “Who Owns Formula One Racing?”. Liberty realized the intrigue behind the scenes had a great plan to publicize its new property.
We can be grateful for the show regardless if you’ve watched it for entertainment over the past few years. I happen to consider it infotainment. It’s certainly fun to watch but we can also learn a lot about the drivers and their stories.
Bonus lesson:
Entertain people while also providing valuable information. This is a great impact tip. We are competing with everyone for attention. I learned from my friend Joe Nolan from Jono Marketing that advertisers no longer believe they are competing in their industry for attention. Subsequently, this was an important point in my book, Personal Finance in a Public World. By the way, the hardcover just published! It might be a good holiday gift for your favorite technology and money enthusiast.
Social media platforms don’t have much of a filter for content and ads. The impact space is not immune. We must gather attention before we can expect our message to be heard.
Focus
The lesson I take from F-1 when I put on my coach’s hat is about focus - specifically, where we place our focus.
You focus all day despite the amount of multitasking we all do. If you believe there is a focus issues in today’s fast paced world, it’s not a lack of it but a struggle to place it consistently.
F-1 drivers must have an amazing level of consistency with their focus. The speeds they race at plus the complexity of the courses is second to none. See this article from One Stop Racing that compares NASCAR and F-1 cars.
Driving a race car is a much different than a regular car. In a regular car, you have to concentrate on a much broader variety of things happening around you. The risks and stakes are not as high on your typical trip but there are more people on the road, more different turns, drivers with different purposes, drivers that may not be fit to drive, and a host of other things. You have to look in front of you, beside you, and behind you repeatedly. Even if you are doing eighty miles per hour (about 129 km/h) on the highway, you still have a reasonable reaction time. F-1 cars can reach 240 miles per hour (about 386 km/h).
An F-1 driver must consistently place his or her concentration directly in front of them so as to anticipate their next move. They should be ready to react to any accidents that could happen but reaction is secondary to anticipation.
Rubber Necking
One of my pet peeves is rubber necking. This is when a driver slows down to stare at an accident or something happening on the road. It’s dangerous, slows traffic, and also kind of nosey. I’m not saying you can’t look as you drive by but don’t let it distract you from the most important thing you are doing; driving your vehicle.
Every metropolitan area claims to have the worst traffic. I can’t figure that out. It’s as if it’s a badge of honor. I want to work and live in the place that brags about how good its drivers are. Anyway, we’ve all experienced rubber necking but for some reason, I feel like it's pretty bad down here in Southeast Florida.
The other day, I was driving down the highway and traffic slowed to about ten miles per hour in a very short distance. I was afraid there was a major accident in that instant. To my surprise, there was no smoke, fire, or horns. Traffic had slowed down for what appeared to be a routine traffic stop. Someone was speeding, a cop pulled them over, and there was no emergency.
Why do we all have to (nearly) stop and stare? Just drive, people!
Now that I have that out of my system…
You can’t rubber neck on a race track no matter how bad an incident is. A lot of the racers on the F-1 circuit are friends and at least respect each other’s lives. There is some sort of mutual respect or driver’s code about honoring people’s lives (and ultimately families) when on the track. Even if there is a terrible wreck around you though, you can’t slow down and stare or take your eye off the road ahead of you. Your focus is always on what’s happening in front of your speeding machine.
Film
I’m not sure how much film of their races drivers watch but I would imagine it’s a good tool to analyze their performance.
In E-Impact 108 and E-Impact 129, I explained my experiences with watching film during collegiate athletics. It can be intimidating but also extremely helpful to maximizing future performances.
It’s a similar focus (although also not as high stakes) in lacrosse and football that is needed during competition. You can’t tend to a teammate’s injury or fix a mistake during the play. You have to play it out. This is what film is for. You go back and watch what happened. I’m sure a race car driver can review what happened in the moment after they’ve completed the race.
Good coaches are excellent at evaluating “the tape”. They might rewind it 25 times in order to figure out why and how something happened.
Impact Application
We would benefit from applying a F-1 driver’s focus to our efforts. Driven people don’t do well when their drive is stunted.
We must capitalize on the moments where our work is strongest. We should not take the foot off the gas or eyes off the road in front of us during those times.
You shouldn’t be distracted when volunteering.
Suppose you are engaged in a volunteer effort and the phone rings. What do you do if it’s not an emergency? You silence it (or maybe completely ignore it if you’re not expecting a meaningful call) and keep up with the work. This is a simplified example but exactly how we need to treat distractions in our work.
Remember the impact work you do is solving a pressing issue. There aren’t many things that are more important. You have to learn to let flak pass you by as you focus on the mission and what is directly ahead of you.
A more serious application might take place over a series of events and longer time period. Assume you figured out an injustice that effected a group of people in your town. The severity of the issue might dictate the amount of attention that the issue receives. During your research and help efforts you meet some connected people and figure out some other issues. You feel convicted to solve them too and maybe they are a root issue.
You could consider a root issue as the next obstacle in your way but how many things are their own separate issues?
Achievers are highly qualified to solve issues but they are also highly susceptible to distractions. You can’t feel as if you’ve done wrong if you pass one problem to solve the one at hand.
You can always come back to something else. Your time is best spent on where the momentum currently is and where you already have experience. In racing terms, don’t change tracks in the middle of a race. Finish what you started.
Charity Water
One charity that I have admired over the years is Charity Water. I requested the founder, Scott Harrison, come on Speaking of Impact when the show first started. Their media department responded promptly and cordially that he was too busy. I should reach back out but in the meantime, I’ve watched them from afar.
In 2006, Scott began his efforts related to Charity Water and these are some words from the website:
Fifteen years later, with the help of more than 1 million supporters worldwide, charity: water has raised over $689 million and funded over 111,000 water projects in 29 countries. When completed, those projects will provide over 15.5 million people with clean, safe drinking water.
This is an impressive list of accomplishments. Mrs. DePasquale and I have been to over thirty countries together. We have seen a few places that do not have clean water. Each has various other problems.
Charity Water has worked in twenty-nine countries. All of which have water issues. I can’t imagine how many other issues they’ve come across.
It would be easy for Charity Water to lose focus on their mission. Impressively, they’ve had consistent focus on the “race” they’re running.
The Road Ahead
Generous work is challenging but we take it on with deep purpose. The road ahead will have its bumps and it will also have plenty of exit ramps to other “problems”. Don’t lose focus on the road you’re on. You are uniquely qualified to address what you’ve been addressing.
The Impactmaker Movement is a network of great people. Don’t fear a new problem will not be addressed. There are plenty of us to call on when you identify a new issue.
Share with me something new that you find but please don’t ever lose focus on your impact project.