Super Bowl Sunday. Biggest sporting event of the year.
But if your team isn’t playing in the game this year, don’t assume you don’t get a Super Bowl. Now, I don’t mean consuming mass amounts of chicken wings, or anything similar, and I’m not necessarily talking about sports. I mean what is the biggest event of the year for you? When are the stakes the highest?
In North Carolina, if you are in the furniture business, there is the High Point Market. It happens twice a year, April and October, and it’s huge. Super Bowl huge.
If you are in retail, the big day is Black Friday. Even before the sales and craziness started happening, the day after Thanksgiving was the day most businesses started earning a profit for the year and switched from red to black ink in their books. If it happens earlier, great, but if it doesn’t happen till much later, you might have a problem. Black Friday is the day you get to find out if you’re winning this year.
If you are in real estate, the big day is whenever your largest deal of the year is near closing. Will you make it?
If you are in the market for a job, perhaps it’s the day of the big interview with the job you just want so badly. Will you nail the interview?
Can you identify your Super Bowl now? Maybe it’s not cut-and-dry like some of the examples above, but I bet if you dig deep, you will find it.
Here’s the thing, though…as a Buffalo Bills fan, I can promise you your Super Bowl might not turn out how you want. My team is the one that lost four straight Super Bowls! BUT they kept showing up the next year, and the next, and the next. And at least they got to the Super Bowl, which not every team does!
Your time at the High Point Market might not go the way you want it. Black Friday may be a disaster—snow storms makes driving impossible and power outages make internet sales infrequent. That big real estate deal might fall apart. And that interview? You did great, but you didn’t get the job.
The important question is will you show up again next year?
The other important question is can you identify your Super Bowl, prepare for it, and give yourself your best opportunity for success?
Here are the three takeaways for this article:
1. Identify Your Super Bowl. And a hint—it doesn’t haven’t to happen only once per year.
2. Plan to Win Your Super Bowl. Plan ahead and prepare.
3. Be the Buffalo Bills. Well, not totally. I’m not saying you should lose on your big day, but if you do, try again!
So enjoy the Super Bowl this year. But even more, go out and find your Super Bowl.
Looking for ideas, check out our podcast on iTunes, for inspiration.