Take the Shot

Something happened to me this week that has never happened to me before – and that’s saying something for a person my age. To explain, I need to back up several weeks.

In early March, I got an invitation from a local company to join their March Madness Bracket challenge for the NCAA basketball tournament. For those of you not familiar with this event, at the end of each college basketball season, a single-elimination tournament of the top 68 college teams is held to determine the national champion in college basketball. It’s fun to try to predict who will win each game and which team will be the eventual champion.

This company was offering gift certificate prizes to the top three brackets – those who predicted most accurately the winning teams throughout the tourney. I thought, “Why not? I haven’t followed college basketball that closely this year, but it could be fun anyway.” I filled out a bracket and submitted it to the group.

?I watched some of the early games with interest, even though some were colleges I’d never even heard of. After the first two rounds of the tournament, I was sure I was out of the running. So many teams I had predicted would win actually lost. “No big deal,” I thought. “I wasn’t planning on winning anyway.” I watched some games in the tournament after that, but I didn’t stress over who was winning and losing. ?

?Then last week, I got an email from the company congratulating me on placing second in their challenge. I responded that they should check to see if there is more than one Mark Carpenter in their group since I didn’t think I would have fared that well. Sure enough, I was the only person with my name in their challenge, so I took second place and got a gift certificate to a national electronics store. I seriously wondered if they only had three people in their pool, so I took second place by default. I’ve never even come close to predicting that tournament accurately, no less won a prize for it.

?Three takeaways from this experience. First, the adage “You miss every shot you don’t take” came to mind. I could have ignored the invitation to participate in that challenge. In fact, I almost did. But by taking a few minutes to join the game, I benefited.

Do we sometimes think, “Oh, I can’t win that business. I won’t even bother applying.”??Do we miss opportunities because we don’t even take the steps to be considered? Let me be clear – I’m not suggesting you take time for every opportunity that comes your way. Certainly there are business opportunities you don’t want. But don’t talk yourself out of potential gains by not trying.

Second, don’t discount your ability to succeed. I do this to myself all the time. Did you hear my language in that story? I’ve never been good at predicting games. I’ve never won anything. I gave up on my bracket. The negative self-talk is often what keeps us from stepping up to new challenges or trying again when we failed. I know I need to get better about that.

Finally, don’t stress about things that are out of your control. I made my picks in the tournament, but I had zero control over the outcome of the games. Once I let go of worrying about who was winning, I enjoyed watching the games more. Put yourself out there. Do your best. But other people are going to make decisions that you can’t control. Stressing over what you can’t control isn’t healthy and could lead you to respond in less helpful ways.

So, when you get the chance, take the shot. Do your best, and don’t sweat the stuff that you can’t control. Who knows? You might end up with a winning bracket.

Mark Carpenter helps people who want to improve the impact of their messages by improving their ability to convey powerful experiences as stories. He is a consultant, facilitator, coach, and co-author of the best-selling book "Master Storytelling: How to Turn Your Experiences Into Stories that Teach, Lead, and Inspire." www.master-storytelling.com

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