I guess I put myself out there

I’m not rich by any means, but I’m doing a lot better than I was growing up.

One of the things I’ve always enjoyed is helping young racers. Sometimes that’s through sponsorship, where there’s a marketing benefit for both of us. Other times it’s helping someone who wants to start a small business related to racing in some fashion.

Over the years I’ve invested time, money, materials, and plenty of advice trying to help a few people get started.

In each case, the opportunity was there.

In all three cases, nothing really happened.

I’ll admit, that’s been hard to watch.

Not because I expected anything in return, but because I genuinely wanted to see them succeed. I believed in them enough to invest something I’d worked hard to earn.

One lesson I’ve learned as an entrepreneur is that you can’t hand someone motivation. You can’t make them follow through. The desire has to already be there.

I’ll still help people. That’s part of who I am.

But today I look for one thing before I invest my time or resources.

Are they already putting in the work?

A helping hand can move someone farther down the road, but it can’t take the first step for them.