My son Richie recently reminded me of an incident that happened when he was a Cub Scout. We were getting ready to participate in his, and my, first Pinewood Derby race. We worked for several nights in February in our cold garage in Georgia under a fluorescent light that hung from the ceiling by chains over a small workbench. Warmed only by a small space heater, we cut, sanded, cut some more, polished, and finally painted our pine race car. It wasn’t perfect but it was pretty good for our first time. Not being very handy, I struggled with getting it perfect.
The day of the race, the school cafeteria was filled with excitement as we checked our cars in after weighing them and adding weights to get the car as close as possible to the weight limit. Some of the cars looked like they were professionally made while others, like ours, were clearly the work of novices. Nevertheless, we were excited and ready for a great race.
I noticed that many people were outside putting stuff on the axles of their wheels to make them go faster. When I inquired what they were using I was told it was graphite. Apparently it eases up the friction and is an excellent lubricant powder. I remember seeing a powder in my pinewood car kit I bought at the Scout Store and decided to do the same thing.
When it came time for Richie to race, he put the car in position and let it go. All the cars zoomed down the hill of the track to the end as the kids screamed and yelled at their cars trying to coax them to win. That is, all the cars but one – Richie’s. His car stopped on the middle of the hill. I couldn’t believe it. He was so mad at me and disappointed and I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t figure out what went wrong. My pride as good father quickly disappeared.
Upon further examination, I found the problem. Apparently the powder in my kit that I thought was graphite was actually pumice powder that was supposed to be used for polishing the axles. It was basically powdered sand that when left on the axles grinded the plastic wheels to a halt immediately stopping the car. But I was so focused on winning that I carelessly used the wrong tool. Wow! What a crucial error. All our hard work ended in the middle of the track.
What’s stopping you in the middle of your track? Do you have a toolbox that you carelessly pull the wrong tools from like I did? Does something appear like it will speed you up when in actuality it will slow you down, even stop you? Are the tools you’re using really even tools? These are very important questions to keep in mind on your sales journey. Using the wrong tools can make the difference between massive success and complete failure. So before you set out to accomplish your next goal, examine your toolbox and make sure that you’re using the best tools for the job. It could make all the difference in the world.