“I act like it’s the last two minutes of my last Super Bowl every hour of the day.”
In short: Dan Peña is an American businessman and speaker who teaches business and commitment. This short clip from his live London Real event at the Ritz in 2015 uses a two-by-12 plank to show how commitment, rather than ability, decides who gets to success.
Dan asks the audience to picture walking along a plank on the ground to collect 1,000 pound notes, then the same plank ten, fifty and a hundred storeys up. The skill never changes, he says; only the fear of failing does. He then raises the stakes again by putting someone you love on the other side.
The clip closes with Dan on why he treats every hour as if it were the final minutes of a big game, and why people who have never had their backs against the wall have usually arranged their lives to avoid it. It is one of several short pieces from the Ritz event.
Key takeaways
- Ability is not the problem. Almost anyone can walk a two-by-12 plank on the ground, so what changes at height is the mind, not the body.
- Fear grows with the stakes. Ten, fifty and a hundred storeys up, more of the room drops out as the “what if I fail?” thinking takes over.
- Real commitment looks like a loved one at risk. Dan says people will cross the plank for their child or grandchild even when they would not for money.
- Back-to-the-wall pressure produces results. He compares it to a last-minute playoff drive, when teams score because everything is on the line.
- Comfort is often learned. Dan says many people are raised to keep a low profile and keep quiet, which keeps them away from the pressure that forces action.
The two-by-12 test
Dan draws on his early construction work. A two-by-12 board is the plank used for scaffolding, and nearly everyone in the room could walk it all day long if it lay on the ground and 1,000 pound notes sat at the end.
Raise the plank ten storeys and part of the audience drops out, he says. At fifty storeys people start offering to crawl, and at a hundred many decide they do not need the money that badly.
Commitment to your success
Dan then replaces the money with a loved one on the other side. His point is that the same people who would refuse the plank for cash will cross it for a child, because the level of commitment is different.
He says he is committed to success and, in recent years, to the success of the people who attend his seminars, and that he becomes emotional because he knows what they are capable of.
Putting your back to the wall
Dan compares his approach to the last two minutes of a Super Bowl, when teams score most of their points because the game is on the line. He says some people in the room have never had their backs to the wall.
He puts that down to upbringing: being told to keep a low profile and keep their mouths shut. His own parents, he says, did not raise him that way.
Who is Dan Peña?
Dan Peña is an American businessman and speaker known for his blunt style. In this clip he mentions his early work in construction and says he is now committed to the success of the people who attend his seminars. The full London Real event took place live at the Ritz in London in 2015.
Frequently asked questions
It is Dan Peña’s illustration of commitment. People will walk a plank on the ground for money, but fewer will do it ten, fifty or a hundred storeys up, while many would cross for a loved one.
This clip comes from Dan Peña’s live London Real event at the Ritz in London in 2015.
He means facing pressure with no easy exit. He says people perform best when everything is on the line, like a team in the last minutes of a playoff game.
It is a short clip of a few minutes taken from Dan Peña’s longer talk at the Ritz.
