Motivation from Cinco de Mayo

Motivation from Cinco de Mayo

Americans drank margaritas in honor of Cinco de Mayo yesterday. The Cinco de Mayo celebrations originate from a 1862 Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla. Mexican forces were led to victory a general, Ignacio Zaragoza, who would die months later. A larger French force would come back and defeat the Mexican army at the Second Battle of Puebla within a year and reoccupy Mexico City until 1866 when Napoleon withdrew French troops.

Cinco de Mayo celebrations began by a small group of Mexican-Americans in California following the victory in 1862, but only gained national popularity over 100 years later in the 1980s following advertising campaigns by beer, wine, and tequila companies.

Whether or not you celebrated Cinco de Mayo, here are 3 ways to use the day as motivation:

Wins can be temporary: General Zaragoza died months after the victorious battle then a larger French force came and reoccupied Mexico City less than a year later. Just like the Mexican forces lost the progress achieved by the May 5 victory, if we don’t give constant effort to our wins then the victories are likely to be short-lived.

Things aren’t always what they seem: Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more in the USA than in Mexico. It is also NOT Mexico’s independence day - that is on September 16. Instead of taking things at face value, it is often worth doing the extra work to make sure they are properly understood.

Find an excuse for fun: Fun can be underrated. Beer, wine and tequila companies were motivated to create a drinking holiday so created Cinco de Mayo. Many times, we can achieve our goals AND have fun just like the alcohol companies created a fun holiday AND grew sales. Today Cinco de Mayo generates alcohol sales on par with the Super Bowl.

Thank you Cinco de Mayo! Let’s have a great week!