Dan Wheldon celebrates his 2011 Indy 500 win, which was secured in the last turn of the last lap of the race.

If you watched yesterday's Indy 500, you witnessed a dramatic finish that was literally determined in the last corner of the last turn of the race. Rookie driver J.R. Hildebrand, who looked to have the race in the bag, took the final corner hot, got into the marbles (tire remnants that are left behind during a race that are very slippery) and crashed. Dan Wheldon quickly swooped in under Hildebrand, hit the gas, and took the checkered flag. A couple seconds changed everything for both drivers.

For Hildebrand, my heart sank. I remember yelling "NO!" at the TV, and couldn't believe how fast his fate was determined by pushing just a little too much on the throttle, or missing a line by an inch or two...oh well, that's racing.

Wheldon, on the other hand, quickly took advantage of the situation, steadied his line, and moved from second place to champion. Just like that.

I kept thinking about the importance of being prepared and aware of your surroundings so you can act quickly when you need to. The same can apply to being successful at work, art or building a career. What can easily be written off as someone being lucky is usually a case where someone was openly looking for opportunity, and when it presented itself, they were ready, and they acted. Purely an active vs. a passive action.

While most of us don't have crashing competitors of whom to take advantage, there are cues to opportunities that could benefit from your talent if you purposefully keep your eyes open and look for them. I think the active pursuit of opportunity combined with preparation for the moment is what makes the difference. Plus, there are plenty of prepared drivers behind you waiting to take advantage of your situation...they are prepared and looking to beat you to the finish line. There is no time to be passive, so get on it!

Watch the dramatic finish:

Starting Monday, I will be working with Victory Motorcycles, a division of Polaris Industries, on their social media initiatives. I am thrilled to be working with an extremely forward thinking company who is known in the industry for their superior products, and customer loyalty. It is an opportunity for me to use all of the skills I am so passionate about, including video production (on the road), story telling, and multimedia. To say I am excited would be an understatement.

This means today is my last day at Moneris Solutions, a company at which I have worked for 12 years in a variety of roles. It was at Moneris where I learned the importance of personal customer service, and that I had an addiction to converting dissatisfied clients into brand advocates by working with them instead of reciting policies. I didn't know it at the time, but all of my work on the front lines with our clients prepared me for this "new marketing" world of social media. I have been lucky and blessed to work with some of the smartest and hardest working people in the financial services industry, and I will miss everyone very much.

Accepting the job also means relocating to the Twin Cities, where I grew up. The kids will be closer to their grandparents and cousins, and we will finally get to spend more time with family, which is huge.

Plus, I am really looking forward to getting more involved into the Minnesota scene, which is one of the most engaged group of interactive marketing and social media folks around.

With no time to waste, I am loading up the truck and moving Saturday, and will be sharing time between Minnesota and Illinois until the house sells. So fire up the hotdish and coffee Minnesota, ‘cause here we come!