Sometimes the biggest difference between winning and losing… isn’t talent. It’s belief.

Recently I watched the finish of the Los Angeles Marathon, and I must tell you—it stopped me in my tracks. The winner, Nathan Martin, ran 26.2 miles and won the race by one one-hundredth of a second.

Think about that.

After 26 miles of pounding pavement, pushing through fatigue, and digging deep, the outcome was decided by 0.01 seconds. For most of the race, another runner had been in the lead. It looked like a foregone conclusion that he was going to win. If you were watching, you might have thought, well, that race is already decided.

That’s balcony thinking.

Balcony thinking assumes the outcome is already set. It tells us there’s no point in pushing harder because someone else already has the lead.

But in the final stretch, here came Nathan Martin. You could see it—the surge, the determination, the belief that maybe, just maybe, he still had something left in the tank. In the last moments of the race, he blew past the leader and crossed the finish line first.

Afterward, Nathan said something that perfectly captures a front-row mindset. He was telling himself: “Don’t give up. Stay in it. Anything can happen in the last stretch.” That’s front-row thinking.

Front-row leaders believe there’s still another gear—even when they’re tired. They believe the race isn’t over until it’s over. They believe effort still matters… especially in the last stretch.

Nathan Martin had already run 26.2 miles. His legs were exhausted like everyone else’s. But what carried him forward was his belief system—the belief that he still had something left.

What do you believe is possible for your life right now?

Where might you be holding back because you’ve decided the outcome is already determined?

Maybe you’ve settled into a balcony mindset, watching opportunities pass by. Maybe you’re sitting comfortably in general admission, accepting the results you’ve been getting.

But what if you moved to the front-row?

What if you adopted the belief that anything can happen in the last stretch?

Here’s your Front Row Friday challenge: Take one area of your life or leadership where you’ve been playing it safe. Just notch up your belief system a little bit. Take one more step. Make one more call. Have one courageous conversation. Give one more burst of effort. Because sometimes the difference between finishing where you are… and finishing where you want to be… …is one final surge of belief. And remember in Nathan Martin’s case, one one-hundredth of a second made all the difference in the world.

So today, choose your seat wisely. And whatever race you’re running right now— stay in it. Because anything can happen in the last stretch.

Happy Front-Row Friday!