Learn To Succeed
SOUP has just turned five years old (September 2020). Thank you for being with me from the beginning…if you have…for finding enough value to go back and listen to old episodes…if you do…for supporting the show with your donation…when you do…and for sharing the podcast with others you think might get something from it.
Reflecting on these five years is much like reflecting on any project. We like to think we have made a difference. Has there been success or failure? Those two words are important because they create an important facet of setting our minds…or creating a mindset…for running by starting the next five years of SOUP by dedicating a short episode to them.
However you define success and failure - or even if you define them differently under different uses - the words are two of many words we use to label events and outcomes. Too often, lack of success is thought to be synonymous with failure. Not succeeding is not the same as failure just as avoiding failing is not the same as success. In my experience, and in my definitions, you can not have success unless you learn something and you can not fail if learning takes place.
To me, it’s only a true failure if you didn’t learn anything from it. Interestingly, that means you can stand on the podium and have failed. If you won the race but learned nothing, it was not a success in my eyes. Sure, you were successful at winning the race but I don’t find that impressive. The same goes for just finishing a race, even if that was your goal. That kind of success is over the moment you take the second step past the finish line; you only cross the finish line once and it only lasts a second. What you learn is what becomes a part of you into the future. You can’t carry a finish line around with you but personal growth is forever woven into the fabric of your future self. Similarly, you can fail to win the race or fail to reach some measurable goal you’ve set but, in my eyes, it isn’t a failure if you learn from the experience.
You can grow as a runner, as a person, from all experiences. When you do, the overall outcome is not failure; how could you disrespect yourself by calling growth a failure? That would be short-sighted. Frame all experiences in the context of growth and you’ll never fail. But, avoiding failure is not our ultimate aspiration, albeit a good start. We aspire to succeed. Give yourself the right goals to be successful in a way that truly enriches you, that helps you be the person you want to be for yourself and others. Is your goal to cross the finish line? Or do you have a more lasting and more meaningful purpose for running this event, like to encourage others who are struggling, to love yourself when you are struggling, to find the self-acceptance to keep going even when you need to walk.
Running, whether it’s a training session or a race, is the practice of being your best self and helping others do the same. SOUP has just turned 5-years old and I hope, above all, it’s helped you to become more of the person you want to be.
It is all too common for people to question why they are doing this in the middle of a race. Perhaps they’re learning that the reasons they had and the goals they set were not the ones they truly seek. With the right view of why you are doing what you do, you will always be prepared for learning, whether it’s something totally new or it’s understanding something better. Even the Dalai Lama meditates every day; you never get beyond needing to pay attention and practice. - practice, reflect, and learn.
My primary objective in every episode is to give you something valid and actionable.So, I ask you to write down at least one thing that you learned after every workout, or at the end of every day, and to frame it using supportive, non-judgemental, growth-oriented language. This should be a fun practice where you are creating the future you, the future you that you aspire to be without negative emotions about not being that person yet. Be excited for each thing you learn, however small. There’s not a molecule in your body that you were born with - we’re constantly updating ourselves.
Be deliberate about serving yourself as your own best, supportive friend and about noting something you learn, or learn more deeply, every day in your training. Do that and you’ll never fail. Do that and you’ll create success every day. Growing as a runner and growing as a person is not about the big breakthrough, the huge win, or the epic training day. It’s about the little successes, compounded every day.
This isn’t a soft exercise or something to be dismissed as too touchy-feely. If you’re just going through the motions then you are missing out on the opportunity to maximize what you get from each workout, and the feature of each workout that may often be the most important. Consciously identify what you learn in a constructive framework if you really want to improve.
As always, how you sleep, think, eat, and move all play a role in helping you become your ultra best. Learning something every day, however small, is your tool for deliberate growth in any or all of those domains.