Beginner and the athlete
Beginner and the athlete
Both line up to run a marathon. They both go off at the same speed. For the first 100m there's nothing between them.
200m the beginner has to slow down, he tries to hang on but after 1 mile it's clear he went off too quickly, he has to stop.
He pretty dejected and pretty pissed off with himself. He vows to never run again, he says he's rubbish at running, running is not for him.
He goes to work on Monday and everyone in his office seems to be running and loving it.
All the stars in the magazines are running and they are great at it. He even reads a story about how someone who couldn't even walk last year battled back and is now a professional runner.
He's motivated to try again if only by shame. He finds another athlete and off they go... But it's the same story again.
He thinks he's pathetic. His confidence is getting lower and lower, he hates himself. Why can't he run when everyone else can?
He repeats this cycle another 20 times... Worthless doesn't even begin to describe how he feels about himself.
Then one day he meets a coach. The coach stands with him on the start line.
The whistle goes...
To his amazement the coach just walks.
It's such a relief to the runner.
He starts to feel pretty good about himself. He can do this pretty easily and he's making progress for the first time in his life.
The next time out they walk a little faster, they even throw in the occasional jog.
After the 5th of 6th run the penny drops.
All he needs to do is better than he did on the last run.
The athlete has nothing to do with him.
Progress is available at far less effort.
Imagine if this didn't apply to just running...
Imagine if this were true of everything we wanted to achieve...
Imagine if all we had to do was be slightly better than last week.
Do you think we would be more likely throw in the occasional sprint and not feel compelled to stop when we couldn't sustain it but rather just returned to a walk or jog?
Imagine if this could be applied to every goal, like losing weight, running a business, learning a language, parenting, relationships, everything!
What if the only reason we ever failed at anything is because we tried to run at someone else's pace?