Friday, February 3, 2012

To be honest with ourselves

One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else. We consume too much information that takes away our focus, causes unnecessary stress and makes you procrastinate on your work. The truth is, what really satisfies me is eliminating distractions so I can work on my passion and enjoy the fruits of my labor. When television, the internet & society prevents you from taking action on your passion its time to rethink your priorities. Signing up for my marathon forced me to reckon with my own priorities in order to free my time and clear my mind to work on my passion, running. The thing about running is its a single-task which many find difficult in a multi-task environment. The act of running is far less difficult than the act of saying no to all those other task that prevent you from your run. Yet to improve in running, its the consistency of day in and day out rituals of putting in the work that yields the amazing adaptation results the human body is capable of.

Productive habit #1, Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs. Its is very common after signing up for a marathon to earmark every long run on your calendar, long runs are key. However, when it comes time to execute that schedule, the pressure to follow through will be difficult. Use this mantra when scheduling appointments with yourself to ensure you follow through in making running a priority.

Productive habit #2, Today I will do what others wont, so tomorrow I can do what others can't. Life has its rituals, cycles and routines. Make running part of your daily lifestyle and it will become a part of you.

Productive habit #3, Stop reacting to every distraction in order to follow your passion 100%. Don't be a jack of all trades, master of none. Running takes a single track mind. Cut down your temptations to be distracted too easily. Unsubscribe, give your brain room to focus on running instead. Technology does come with an off button, use it to get off the grid and go for a run.

Its really a game changer when you stop those distractions worrying about what everyone else is doing and redefine success as a battle between YOU and YOURSELF. Write down where you are today, your last race. Next write down where you want to be, your PR. The space between the two is called THE GAP. That is your real competitor, self improvement to believe in yourself & close the gap. The race itself is really just a validation point to see if the gap was closed during your training journey leading up to the race. At the start line tell yourself, every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.

No comments: