The Hurdles Were Just Something To Step Over

By: Roy Terracina

I once heard the famous Olympic hurdler, Edwin Moses say something like, “The hurdles are just something I go over on my way to the finish line.”

This is a good mental framework for life. During my own life, I’ve encountered so many people who simply could not make a decision and move forward. They get fixated on the hurdle and lose sight of the finish line. They would overthink, over evaluate, and get caught in this emotional tug of war that ended with them stuck in a state of over-analysis paralysis. I would imagine this was exhausting for them mentally, physically, and probably spiritually. I would also guess a big part of their hesitancy is they didn’t want to make a mistake.

Imagine Edwin Moses, racing down the track and stopping at each hurdle, unable to commit or move forward because of the risk of falling. Instead, he was assessing, timing his steps, and moving forward with his eyes on the finish line. He didn’t allow himself to get fixated on each hurdle.

I think the ability to make decisions has been a big contributing factor to whatever success I’ve had. I decide yes or no, then I move forward.
I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I did my best to think through my decisions and move forward committed. Particularly when it came to my business life, I’ve always found that looking backwards didn’t serve me well at all. I’d gather all the information that I could, then I’d make the decision to move forward or not. With every decision I know that there is a possibility it doesn’t work out, but being to able to humble myself and accept the possibility of embarrassment or failure lets me move forward.

I had a comfortable job and life in Milwaukee when I had the chance to buy my first company in San Antonio. My father and I flew down to look at it and I then moved my family from Milwaukee to San Antonio. It was a huge change for all of us. We didn’t know anyone, we were leaving all our family and relatives behind, and there was always a chance it might not work out. But the opportunity came and I thought it was the right thing to do. I’m grateful because it gave me personal opportunities with my family that we would never have had in Milwaukee.

I’ve made mistakes and will probably make more, but I try not to let fear of making mistakes or indecision get in the way. “The hurdles were just something to step over”.