Auto racing legend Danica Patrick has used lessons learned on the racetrack to fuel new successes. Her ethos can help you take your dreams to the finish line too.
On a rainy December morning at her home in Scottsdale, Arizona, Danica Patrick was feeling rather happy about a flat tire.
If you know anything about Patrick—namely, that she’s widely held to be the most accomplished woman in the history of auto racing—it may seem unlikely that car trouble of any sort could please her. But the flat tire in question was not her tire. It belonged to a workout buddy who had been planning to drive to Patrick’s house for an exercise session but never made it due to the flat.
To Patrick, who earlier that morning had floated the idea of postponing the workout because she was feeling tired, the flat tire was a stroke of serendipity that allowed her to get some rest that she otherwise would have neglected. “I was like, ‘Wow, the universe just made that all so easy,’” she says.
No one could argue that the universe has made Patrick’s successes—during her racing career or in her roles as author, podcast host, and entrepreneur—come easily. She has a “can-do” attitude that’s helped her break through barriers, and her historic performances in races like the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500 are literal proof that reaching your goals requires putting your foot on the gas.
Still, for Patrick, the tire incident is just one small example of her belief that sometimes, to get what you want, you need to take your hands off the wheel and have faith that forces outside of yourself are working in your favor. She explains that when you tap into your innermost desires and make them known, “Things happen for you really quickly and easily, and manifest and work [themselves] out.”
Patrick’s formula for success—cultivated along the many twists and turns of her career—involves balancing “can do” with “let it go.” Her journey provides a roadmap for dreaming big, adopting a mindset to propel you forward, and creating the life you really want…