Theory - Focus on what you can control.
Reality – Constantly scan everyone else and then get distracted with ‘What is that seemingly critically important thing over there …??’
It is hard to focus when the brain perceives danger/uncertainty/disruption, and it does not do a great job of knowing how significant it is. Distraction occurs so quickly.
I was running in a half marathon recently and I saw someone in the race I thought was doing very well – run, walk, repeat. This was not how I was racing (keep running as I didn’t trust myself to start again if I walked) but the person always caught up and passed me. I remember thinking what a great race they were running and how I envied the different style. Later on I was surprised when I saw them on the footpath taking off their racing bib and looking so very disappointed. I wanted to say keep going but you can’t know someone’s story from one scene. The movie plot is not obvious there, but you can focus and move forward in your story.
What I found is that it did not help me at marker Km 7/Mile 4.5 to compare how I was doing in the race that goes for 21 km/13.1 miles. (Also, elite runners may finish in one hour versus my slighter longer 2 ½ hours to run a half marathon). Yes, the perfectionist was hard at work at not helping here – what was not going well (fitness, tiredness, focus) instead of what was going well (training, motivation, visualising the finish line).
I changed my goal...
I changed my goal during the race to my own gold medal - to finish (not the time), as it was the first time back after two years to run a race with 13,000 people. I did not know what the aftereffects of that time would be, so I just kept going.
When I finished it was surprising that the time was not much longer than previous years and the pace was constant. Easy to see when looking back, but that is what reflection is for. New perspectives. Trust the process.
The other key insight was that both of us had a great support in place – the disappointed runner was helped off the course by their support person and I had the confidence to run the distance as I know my support person will help me if I need it.
For those not bored with the running theme, I am interested in hearing from you how you ran your own business or career race in a disruptive environment. Yes, I mean this disruptive environment.
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