Hey there !

Happy MONDAY!

You may or may not know that I am a (big!) college basketball fan and that mid-March is my absolute favorite time of year because it's 2 full weekends of fabulous basketball watching.

Over this past weekend the CRAZIEST thing happened.

Every year there is one team that comes out as 'Cinderella' - a small school that doesn't belong with the big programs and wins anyway, who 'busts' the bracket, and who inspires millions of people who have never heard of them to cheer for them like they are their own.

I LOVE this part of basketball in particular. I LOVE a Cinderella.

I LOVE rooting for the underdogs, the ones who 'shouldn't' win and do anyway, I love it when tiny programs from nowhere get to be talked about everywhere.

And this year has been no different...except, well, it's a little different.

Because this year MY school IS Cinderella.

I am a graduate of tiny little Saint Peter's University (then it was Saint Peter's College).

My school has only been to the big tournament 2 other times, and they'd never won a game.

And according to all they experts, they shouldn't have won this weekend either.

But they did.

They won NOT just one (against one of the top 8 teams in the country) but TWO games this weekend, and are now one of the 16 teams left playing from a field that started at 68.

And this is where you start wondering if I have a point, especially if you don't in particular care about basketball.

So here it is.

This weekend, Saint Peter's did something VITAL before they won anything.

Before they showed up and beat one of the biggest basketball programs in the US (and just for context, that other team's coach's yearly salary is SIX times Saint Peter's basketball's entire budget), they decided they BELONGED.

They DECIDED that it was both possible and okay for them to win.

And they showed up like they had been there before, even though they had most definitely NOT.

Were they afraid, nervous, uncomfortable, unsure?

Yep.

But when the clock started and the ball was tipped, did they let that mean ANYTHING about what the result was going to be?

NOPE.

And that is a huge part of HOW they won.

They might have been afraid, intimidated, unsure, nervous - but they didn't make that MEAN anything about what the result could be.

Being NERVOUS did not mean they COULDN'T win.

And win they did.

This?

This applies to you too.

Right now, right here, today.

Just like Saint Peter's on the court, YOU get to decide that you BELONG in the business world.

You get to DECIDE that it is okay for you to be successful.

You get to DECIDE that you CAN and WILL win.

You get to show up like you have been there, even when you haven't.

And you get to feel the feelings - to be afraid, nervous, uncomfortable, unsure, intimidated - and NOT make them mean anything about the outcome.

After the first game, the on-court reporter interviewed Saint Peter's coach, Shaheen Holloway.

She asked him 'Weren't you nervous?'

And he gave what may now be my favorite interview answer of all time.

He said “For what? It’s basketball,”

He said this **even though** basketball is literally his life and livelihood; he didn't make THAT mean anything about the game and the result.

Wouldn't it be nice to channel a little of THAT feeling into your world this week?

It's just business.

Yes, it might BE everything - your life and livelihood - but it's also just the game we're choosing to play.

Friend. Right NOW.

• Decide you belong.

• Decide your winning/success IS not only possible, but inevitable.

• Decide it's okay feel the feels and do it anyway.

• Channel some of that Cinderella energy.

Choose to BELIEVE so that you CAN SUCCEED (rather than the other way around).

It works.

Much love,

Sara

PS. If you are now maybe considering watching some basketball this coming weekend (maybe just Saint Peters?!?), the game is on at 8 pm EST Friday night. Come root with us.

PPS. The UNComplicated Selling webinar is coming up on 4/13. If you haven't registered, you should, it's going to be wildly useful, especially if selling doesn't yet feel like your cup of tea. This webinar will change how you sell (and how you feel about selling) forever... so register here :).