THE WINNER'S MIND

I was an 18-year cigarette smoker in January 2018. By October of that same year, I quit smoking and completed my first marathon. (For those of you non-runners, that's 26.2 miles.) 

I've run over 10,000 miles since then, and seven full marathons marathons. I'm hoping I qualify for Boston soon enough. But... if I don't, there's always "old age" and the extra minutes that come along with that. 😂

I like to consider myself a "winner," and I'm a winner because I have what I call "the winner's mind."

What is the "winner's mind?" It's the mindset that knows WHEN enough is enough.

Thinking "I should be doing more" is a loser’s mindset. It's one reason so many people give up on things instead of seeing them through.

Here's a practical example of it:

Let's say you decide to start running. You seem to be having trouble doing it (naturally, because it takes time) and you feel frustrated. You walk a lot (naturally) and you feel defeated every time you decide to go outdoors.

Finally, someone like me comes along and asks you how long you believe you can run without stopping.

You tell me "Maybe three minutes."

I, someone who coached myself from couch to multiple marathons, tell you that is a GREAT place to start. Instead of spending a ton of time on your feet that your body IS NOT READY FOR, you are going to do two or three-minute bursts of running with walking in between. Do that for a week, maybe two or three times, and we'll reassess next week.

"Amazing!" you say. But then, instead of doing it, you decide to continue with big Herculean 30-40 minute efforts that include very little running, pass yourself off as a failure, and quit. 

I've seen this quite a few times, and I always leave the situation angry. 

"Why do they not DO the three minutes? 😡"

Because "three minutes isn't enough" they mistakenly think.

That is the loser's mind. The loser's mind is not acknowledging where you're at, picking attainable goals, and crushing them.

The loser's mind thinks it can microwave mastery, defy the laws of physics, and convince a musculoskeletal system that's been sitting on the sofa for a year to suddenly have the efficiency of someone who has been hitting the pavement for a decade.

Every marathon runner starts with minutes, not miles. 

I contend it is not about stamina. It's about grace. 

It's about getting your little ego out of the way and making it so that the only thing to beat is yesterday. 

Winner's Mind: This is enough. I'm going to pick something reasonable, if not just a little bit out of my comfort zone, show up repeatedly, and win repeatedly.

Loser's Mind: This is not enough. Let me expend all of my energy in an unsustainable way, burn out, call myself a failure, live in shame, and not try again for six months.

The winner's mind is a better option.