Swim your OWN Race
There is something magical about the Olympics.
The plethora of human emotions you get to experience from the highest of high to the lowest of lows.
On the world stage, it is the ultimate display of preparation, passion and purpose.
Yesterday I was watching the 400m Women’s Freestyle where 19-year-old American sensationKatie Ledecky breaks her own world record by 1.91 secs.
Within the first 100m, it was very clear that she was in a class of her own. She was miles ahead the entire race. (She won the race by a margin of 4.77 secs over Great Britain Jazmin Carlin).
The curious thought that I had during that sub 4 min race was: What goes through your mind during the race if you were Katie Ledecky (and what are you thinking if you were one of the other swimmers chasing Ledecky?)
Ledecky was clearly body lengths ahead of her closest rival, but with 400m of swimming, there is ONLY one thing you can think… SWIM YOUR OWN RACE.
There is nothing else. It is just about her and the clock (and her own world record she was chasing down).
But what if you were one of the other 7 competitors in that FINAL?
I am sure there is a point where you just know that you can’t catch up, and mentally you have to switch focus from chasing Ledecky to SWIM YOUR OWN RACE.
There is no other way. I could be totally wrong here – but this is exact thought I often have to contend with when I am doing a workout at the local Crossfit box each morning. Sometimes (actually most of the time!), I know that I am not the fastest or strongest in the group… but that’s not the point.
For me, it is NOT about being the best on the day (it helps the ego, but that is about it). It is about finding the BEST in yourself – each day, each moment, each sec.
I believe that is SUCCESS.
“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming” – Famous basketball coach John Wooden
This is easy to say. The hard part is being honest with ourselves on the following question:
“WAS THIS THE BEST I GOT?”
Only you can answer that… because at the end of the day, there is NO competition in life other than the competition with yourself with what FULFILLS YOU.
That is SUCCESS.
