How to win a race
hard work and determination pay off
This week, I met with Corey DeAngelis. Corey is a school choice advocate. He has 57,000 followers on Twitter. But what he taught me in our conversation was how to run a race.
Let me back up. Three years ago, I ran the State Policy Network 5K. A group of 100 of us loaded onto buses early on an October morning and drove to a public park.
I looked around at the other runners. I knew none of them.
We lined up, someone yelled, “Go!” and we were off. One hundred strangers, running together in the dark in a park in Utah.
About a mile into the race, the pack of runners started to separate. I looked around and there were two other runners next to me, and 97 people behind me. And I realized I could win this race. But I needed to have the right strategy. So I weighed my options.
I could sit in this pack of three, and wait until the end of the race. Then I could try to outkick them all at the end of the race.
Or, I could run as fast as I could. Right now. And try to gain enough distance to break their spirits.
The first strategy would have worked were I in better shape than the other two. The second strategy was a way to break a person mentally.
So I took off.
I ran my next mile as fast as I’ve ever run a mile in my life. I looked back. Nobody in sight.
I did it.
And then it hit me: I couldn’t catch my breath. I’d exceeded my lungs’ ability to catch up with how hard I was running. In other words, my body stopped getting enough oxygen.
I was struggling. My pace started plummeting. Fortunately, I only had a mile left.
And then a shape appeared behind me. It started out small. It slowly grew bigger.
I tried to run faster. I couldn’t. It felt like I was running in water.
They were gaining on me.
Fortunately, I could see the finish line. I give myself a final push.
I won first place.
Seconds later, in comes the second-place runner. I was struggling to breathe. He still had a lot more in the tank.
I walked over to him and said, “Good race. How are you not exhausted?” He looked at me and said, “I just wanted to run a consistent race. I had a goal before the race. And I did it. I just stayed laser focused on that.”
In my head, we were in a competitive race. But he didn’t even care about beating me. He was just focused on himself.
And if the race had been any longer, he would have beaten me.
We took a picture together. I hadn’t thought about him since.
Until this past Wednesday, when the Illinois Policy Institute had an event with the Bradley Impact Fund. I was interviewing Corey DeAngelis.
I typed in his name, opened up Twitter, and my first thought was “this guy is blowing up.” He only Tweets about one issue: school choice. He has 57,000 followers.
Here is an example of one of his tweets: “IT’S HAPPENING!”
It has 1.5k likes.
As I dug deeper, you could see he built this audience by relentlessly talking about school choice – for years.
When we met on Wednesday evening, I said, “Corey, how have you built such a massive following?” He looked back at me and said, “Matt, I’ve been talking about the same issue for years. I have opinions on other issues, but the only thing I will talk about is school choice. I just stayed laser focused on that”
I looked at his face. Then I realized: This is the same guy who almost beat me in the 5K.
The same methodical approach he used in running, is how he has approached his career.
Author Seth Godin explains why, “In every field, extraordinary benefits go to those seen as being in the top five percent. One out of twenty.
It turns out that if you’re thoughtful and diligent, the top 5% is attainable.
The approach is to pick the right set to be part of. Not, “top 5% of all surgeons,” but perhaps, “top 5% of thoracic surgeons in Minnesota.” Be specific. Find your niche and fill it.”
And for Corey, he’s done just that, and it’s paid off. He is the leading voice on school choice in the nation. All because he is running a marathon, and not paying attention to all the sprinters around him.
That’s a lesson.