Everything I Learnt About Winning, I Learnt From Running
For the race is not to the swift but time and chance happen to them all.
When you are successful people will always want to know what your secret to success is. Nobody ever asks, “What is the secret of your failure?” when speaking to those whose endeavours have yielded no results. No one is interested.
Success seems elusive, hidden behind some kind of wall with no door in sight. If only one could utter the magic words, “Open sesame!”. Whilst searching for the secret door I have made some interesting discoveries.
I love running. I go out two to three times a week. I love the feeling of freedom that running gives me. The wind on my face, music blasting into my ears, and the earth beneath my feet make for a good run. No one judges me here and no one can interrupt me. It’s just me and the road.
I have been running for two years now so I know how to pace myself. I have found my rhythm and know how to breathe. I know what to do before I go for a run and what to do after a run. I have learnt all this from coaches as well as from my experience of actually running. During one of my morning runs all my learning was thrown out of the window!
It was a perfect day for running. There was a cool breeze with birds flying carefree in a cloudless sky — a rare sight. I had mapped out my route carefully, having set myself a new challenge to improve my speed. I grabbed my water bottle, infused with apple cider vinegar to help soothe my throat during the run, and set off.
All was going well when, out of the blue, a man ran right past me at an incredible speed. I had seen him before but had never seen him run that fast. Something inside me screamed out, “You cannot let him beat you. You need to run faster!”
I immediately increased my pace.
I slowed down seconds later as a voice inside my head asked, “What are you doing? What are you trying to prove and to whom?”
That’s when I realised the folly of my action. I had left home with a plan, a route, and a goal to achieve based on my capabilities and training. Although the other runner was a familiar face, I had no clue what his motivation or goal was. Yet here I was trying to compete with him.
When I reflected on my actions later I was reminded me of the hare and tortoise tale. It made me think of the hidden life lessons in this inspirational tale.
Life Is A Race
Life is one long race. A race against, not other people, but against time. I remind myself constantly that my only competitor is me.
Life has already endowed me with everything I need to win. It knows what pace I should move at to reach my destination or final goal within the time alloted to me on this planet. I just need to stay tuned in to my intuition.
People who need to get to their destination quickly will be fast like the hare. Those who move at a slower pace like the tortoise will plod along based on their goals, capabilities and resources. The two cannot be compared to each other. It would be an unfair comparison.
My race is mine alone to run.
Unfortunately life sometimes puts us in situations where we find ourselves in competition with others. When I find myself caught up in the drama I stop and remind myself of who I am and why I do what I do. That usually puts things in perspective and keeps me grounded. After all, my race is mine alone to run. No one else can do it for me.
Everyone Can Win
Everyone can win but there’s a catch. Life gives you opportunities to win but those opportunities usually present themselves in the form of a problem.
In the folk tale the tortoise was put in a situation where it had to race against the hare which was faster. The odds were against it. Life has a way of putting us in situations which seem impossible to win. The tortoise did not try to be like the hare. It ran its own race, at its own pace and still won.
When life presents a challenge, reframe it and see it as an opportunity to bring something good out of it.
My best wins came when I was true to myself. I lost my dad after a long illness so the news did not come as a shock. Infact, I had worked out a plan of what I would do when he did pass. What shocked me was my reaction when the news was broken to me.
You can never really prepare for someone’s death because each loss takes a different part of you. Loss of a loved one hurts in ways you never imagined.
When you are true to yourself you have a better chance of winning.
What helped me was that I did not try to be brave or to be someone I was not. I allowed myself to grieve in a way that was authentic to me. The process was long and hard but I came out stronger. When you are true to yourself you have a better chance of winning.
I Am Unique
I am unique and so are you. No one looks or acts like me. I have different skills and abilities. How I do things will be different from how someone else does things.
The way I do things is what makes me unique.
I get the results I get because of who I am, and not just how I do what I do. I could copy your style and achieve some level of success but the way I do things is what makes me unique. It is my unique selling point (USP.)
For this reason I do not need to compare myself with anyone because there is no comparison nor do I need to try to be exactly like someone else.
Just be you. Everyone else is taken.
- Life is a race — run your own race at your own pace.
- Everyone can win — success is not a secret, it is a state of “being.”
- I am unique — my unique qualities, your unique qualities are the components of success.