How the Panthers Loss Helped Me Finalize My 5 P’s

Twenty-two years as a die-hard Carolina Panthers fan has taught me a lot of things. In fact, I can’t think of a childhood sports memory that didn’t somehow relate to the Panthers. When they made it to the Super Bowl, here in San Francisco, I wrote a note about how sometimes in life everything clicks and reminded myself to be mindful of this moment. In a way it’s actually serendipity, because through their loss two nights ago I was able to finally finish my personal 5 p’s.

If you’re familiar with marketing you know the 5 p’s as: People, Product, Price, Place and Promotion. However, I’ve realized a lot of words start with P so a few weeks ago I set out to define my own 5 p’s — something that I can look to during the highs and lows of life and business. Below are my 5 p’s:

Process

I’ve probably heard a million times it’s all about the journey. In fact, that’s one of the things I enjoy most about working at TINT. It’s our shared journey together that really makes the day-to-day grind worth it. Rome was not build in a day and for any process it’s the monotony that allows us to truly enjoy the finish product. The Panthers were close to seeing the end of this process, and trust me it’s been a long one, come to fruition but to be honest it just wasn’t the right time. That doesn’t mean the process was not worth it, it just means that there are more steps to take. So rather than seeing next season as the first step back to the ethereal “mountain top” mentioned Sunday, I see it as being one step closer.

Positivity

That brings me to my next point, positivity. Negative energy breeds negative energy and I’ve decided that everyday I’m going to choose to be positive. Yes, I saw Cam’s interview yesterday and to be honest, we’ve all probably been there at some point in our career. In my opinion Cam Newton is one of the most uplifting figures we have in sports though and I challenge myself to bring the same genuine happiness to the process that he did to the 2015 season. The argument would be that it’s easy to be positive when you’re winning, yes, but I’d argue that we struggle through the losses so we can enjoy the wins that much more.

People

My favorite quote of 2016, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Life is too short for the BS. What I value most about this quote and the idea of social capital is that you need to hangout with people that you make better and that make you better. That’s what I loved most about this Panthers team, and maybe it will be debunked in a 30 for 30, but all the personalities just worked and uplifted one another. If you can uplift the people you’re around and they can uplift you, you’ll start to appreciate life way more.

Patience

I haven’t quite mastered this one yet, but it did take me six years of work to achieve a clarity and capability level where I feel like I’m actually doing what I’m meant to be doing. The clear parallel to this and the game is that it will be at least another year of waiting for that elusive first Super Bowl win for the Panthers. I’ll just choose to believe that all good things come in time and the disappointment of Sunday’s outcome will make the actual desired outcome that much more enjoyable.

Perspective

This one is my favorite. Perspective in my opinion is the greatest gift life can give us. Everything happens for a reason. Perspective allows us to see things in hindsight and make the next move accordingly. I could’ve never imagined that the last time the Panthers were in the Super Bowl, 13 years ago, that not only would they make it back but also it would be played in the city I live in allowing me to soak up the ambiance. That loss in 2003 also helped me deal with this loss or any loss personally and professionally. Like I said everything happens for a reason even if that’s not apparent in real-time.