Been playing a LOT of “Mario Kart” lately.
What’s Mario Kart?
It’s a Nintendo Wii game where characters from the Mario video games race go-karts around exotic race tracks. So, for example, you can race as Mario, or Donkey Kong (the one I play) or any of the characters from the Mario games.
This stoopid game has me hooked, too.
A couple times I’ve literally dreamt about it.
And even caught myself thinking about ramming into the car next to me on the highway last weekend to pull ahead of him — just like when racing in Mario Kart!
Whoa!
Anyway, why am I actually admitting this?
Because dorky as it is… MK is the ultimate success metaphor.
Whether you’re in 11th place or 1st place, you’re constantly being hit, whacked and attacked by everything from flying debris and flesh eating plants… to fire balls and semi trucks… to the other racers knocking you off the track. (Which can mean getting tossed into water, sinking in molten lava or, on one course, falling into outer space and incinerating in the atmosphere!)
It gets extremely frustrating, too.
You can be seconds from winning… only to finish dead last due to some random attack or prank by another character. (I’ve even caught myself shaking my fist at the screen yelling obscenities at the little $%&!’s who beat me!)
And guess what?
That’s EXACTLY how it is as an entrepreneur.
Nobody wins this “race” without massive frustration, either.
Someone can knock you off your track into the molten lava just before some big sale or landing a new client at the last possible minute (and when you’re not expecting it).
This kind of stuff can frustrate you to the point of quitting, too.
But you gotta hang in there no matter what.
Because just like in Mario Kart, you can be in dead last place, and then run over a “power up” mushroom (or get some other gimmick from the game) that gives you super speed at the last minute to win.
That’s just how this crazy entrepreneur life is.
It’s as weird and hair raising as it is fun and rewarding — but only if you stay long enough to finish the race.
Anyway, that’s all for today.
I think I hear Mario Kart calling…
Ben Settle
