Finish the Race

Scott Humphrey CEO, WFCA

As we move out of the past two years of uncertainty and begin to embrace the new norm post COVID, many are asking what is next — while still looking back over their shoulder? It resembles our natural tendency when we drive by an accident on the highway.

We crane our necks backward to see the damage that was done and assure ourselves that everyone is okay. Oftentimes this backward glance is all it takes to create another fender bender. It is not unlike what happens to our businesses if we continue to look back at what was.

It is impossible to chart a clear path forward if you are constantly looking back over your shoulder. But how does one fight the natural tendency to look back? In reality, it is quite simple. Focus on finishing! Your focus lies in the past, on your current situation, or forward as you seek to finish the race.

If you are looking back, you are likely haunted by past failures or the pressure of past success. Past failures tend to refine us and remold us as we battle through. But that does not mean we have to let them define us.

They may shape you, but you have the ability to determine how that experience will define the person you will become. And lest you think we are constantly looking back out of fear or the haunting of failure, even successes can draw you back and lock you into your past if you let them.

We have all met the high school athlete that constantly recounts his or her past accomplishments. They live back there. They are so locked into the life they lived and the successes they have had that they can’t clearly focus in on where they are or the person they could become.

This is true of people and companies. A great year, like the one most had during and coming out of COVID, can seem impossible to replicate — so you keep looking back to see how that success was possible. Remember:

You likely understand why looking back does not allow you a clear path forward but may be asking, “what is wrong with focusing on your current situation? Don’t we want to be in the present?” Of course, we do — unless you are stuck there. Imagine someone looking down and focusing on every step. It is unlikely they would trip because they are focused on their present situation.

But what about the roadblocks, the walls, the obstacles that life throws your way. You can’t anticipate and be prepared for what lies ahead if you are simply locked in on where you are. People who are frozen in the present often suffer from analysis paralysis.

They overanalyze every decision for fear of making a mistake. They don’t allow themselves the luxury of taking a calculated risk to expand their horizons and increase their self-confidence.

Was the pandemic good or bad for you? What lessons did you learn that you can use to establish a solid foundation for your personal and professional lives? Knowing that life is short, and we can’t always know what will be thrown into our path, what are your goals for the future – and what will you do to finish the race and make those goals a reality?

John Baker was too short and too slight to be a runner, but he loved to run. His best friend was tall and lanky and built for running, so John was allowed on the high school track team as long as he would talk his best friend into running too.

The first team race was a 1.7-mile cross-country run through the hills of Albuquerque. The reigning state champ Lloyd Goff was running, so all eyes were on him. He led the pack as they disappeared into the hills. The spectators waited, and then a lone silhouette appeared. They all assumed it was Lloyd… but they were wrong.

It was John Baker. He blew away the rest of the pack and set a new course record. When they asked him how he pulled out the win, he said he asked himself a simple question, “Am I doing my best?” He committed to focusing forward and finishing the race — win or lose — by giving his best.

John went on to prove that race was not a fluke. By his junior year, he had broken six meet records and was considered the best miler in the state. In his senior year, he went on to win state and later run at the University of New Mexico.

After proving himself in college, he set his sights on the 1972 Olympics. To make money while he trained, he took a job at Aspen Elementary in Albuquerque. He was soon known as the coach who cared — no longer simply invested in his own future but in the lives of the children of Aspen Elementary.

In May of 1969, just before his 25th birthday, he began to tire easily. Within weeks, John was diagnosed with advanced cancer. Surgery was his only option, but the outcome only revealed the worst. The cancer had spread.

He was told he had less than six months to live. Anyone else would have quit. They would have focused on their past successes and been mired in their current situation, but not John Baker. He dedicated the remainder of his life to finishing the race by pouring himself into these kids and their future.

He refused pain medication and even took on coaching a small track club — the Duke City Dashers. They quickly became a favorite to make it to the AAU finals. Though John didn’t survive to see that happen, by finishing the race and giving his best, he made an investment that far outlived him. The Duke City Dashers went on to win the AAU Championship.

A few days after his funeral, students at Aspen Elementary began calling the school John Baker. A movement began, and a name change request was sent to the board. Five hundred twenty families in the district voted unanimously for the name change.

Today, John Baker Elementary stands as a testimony to a courageous young man who believed in giving his best and finishing the race.