“Trying is not enough, you need to have a plan.” – Mastering the Mindset with Carlos Sainz Sr.

On Monday, April 17th, IE University had the pleasure of hosting Spanish rally legend Carlos Sainz Sr., together with the IE Motorsports Club, at the Mastering the Mindset event.

Sainz, known as “El Matador,” is a two-time WRC World Champion and is one of Spain’s greatest-ever off-road racers. He won the World Rally Championship with Toyota in 1990 and 1992 and finished runner-up four times.

The event was attended by a jam-packed auditorium filled with enthusiastic student-fans eager to learn about adopting a winning mindset for motorsports and life and gain career insights from Carlos to turbocharge their professional journey with skills from IE.

Campus Life and the IE Motorsports Club were instrumental in organizing the event, with all organizing members coming from the club.

The organizing team included Co-Presidents; Nia Sekania, Ainhoa Martin Atance, and Jorge Herrero Gómez, Business Administration and Data Analytics students; Tilla Victoria Balogh, International Relations student, and Tomás Vintimilla, Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence student.

During the event, Carlos Sainz Sr. spoke about the importance of hard work and sacrifice in achieving success, both in motorsports and in life. He shared his personal story inspiring the audience to work towards their goals with dedication and determination.

Here are 3 lessons from the Spanish legend:

1. Everything is better when done as a team and it is always important to acknowledge the people that have helped you along the way.
2. Go above the established tasks. After the races, the job wasn’t finished. I would sit with the engineers and see what details could be improved and optimized.
3. When facing adversities, my strategy to cope with them was to put things into perspective and realize what were the important things in my life like my family, friends, and the fact that I got “lucky” in my life as I can work in my passion.

To cap off the event, the IE Motorsports Club announced their karting champion, Christopher Brinker, who had the unique opportunity to take a picture with Carlos Sainz Sr. to commemorate his achievement.

“Hosting Carlos Sainz Sr. on Campus was a fantastic experience and a genuinely unique opportunity for the IE Community. Rarely do we have the opportunity to directly learn the secrets of a sports legend's long-term professional success. One of the core values of IE Sports & Well-Being is to advance our student’s personal transformation by helping them grow their skills outside the classroom, specifically around sports. We are proud of how our student-leaders from the IE Motorsports Club developed their skills and shared a growth opportunity with the entire IE Community by organizing this high-impact event. From IE Sports & Well-Being, we want you to seek your greatness!” – Clint Goodrich, IE Sports & Well-Being's Executive Director.

In today’s social media-driven world, it is common to witness success without recognizing the struggles and sacrifices made. The Mastering the Mindset event was a great reminder for the IE community that achieving success requires hard work, sacrifice, and a relentless dedication to pursue goals with a team that shares the same vision.