Skip to main content

Out of the Blocks


Years ago, I walked on to the University of Alaska Track and Field Team. I was athletic, but very raw and unpolished. While I very much enjoyed sprinting, my technique and form were lacking, and I had a lot of work ahead of me to get it up to par.

Especially in the early practices, I remember coaches working with me to eliminate unnecessary movement as I ran, particularly during the acceleration phase out of the blocks. My head and neck would bounce around, my arms had too much lateral motion which caused my hips to swivel and my torso to twist. Basically, there was a lot of extra motion in my running form that gobbled up precious energy and effort. As I began to eliminate the unnecessary and detrimental actions, more force and momentum was harnessed towards propelling me down the track and my times improved.

The same thing can happen as we travel down the path of life. We get hampered by busyness and aimless activity that saps our limited stores of energy and effort, slowing us down and wearing us out. While we may be putting forth a lot of exertion, it isn’t focused in the right areas and is getting us nowhere other than fatigued. Momentum and force that could be used to propel us forward is wasted on unnecessary movement that only holds us back.

There are a lot of hard-working people out there who aren’t getting where they want to be because they flail around in futile activities. Exertion and effort alone aren’t enough to propel you forward. You must harness focused intensity and eliminate unnecessary movement.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on
Post a Comment
Read more

Commitment

  You know what the problem is with a lot of goals and grand plans? They are mostly fueled by emotion rather than commitment. It is why most New Year’s Resolutions are long forgotten by now and many aspirations quietly fizzle out over time. True commitment is sticking with the effort even – if and especially when – the emotion has diminished or disappeared. Emotion can be a great initiator of action, like kindling on a fire, but it lacks staying power. Commitment is the logs that keep the fire burning long after the kindling is consumed. The butterflies after falling in love, the best intentions of waking up at 4:30am every day to work out after you join a new gym, the excitement of your first day on campus, even the sleep-deprivation induced euphoria of a new baby: all kindling. But it is commitment that keeps you working hard on the marriage twenty-three years after “I do.” It is what causes you to keep going when you do not want to make one more sales call, do one more presentat
Post a Comment
Read more

Glutton for Punishment

I’ve learned over the years that being comfortable can be a dangerous thing. I try to find paths to discomfort to push me out of my realm of “safety.” However, I have noticed my ability to develop comfort zones amidst discomfort. I’ve found ways to be comfortable in uncomfortable circumstances. I wonder, do I need to be stretched beyond those areas as well? One of the areas in which I have adapted to the discomfort is the gym. I don’t go to the gym to exercise, to get stronger or even to be healthier. It’s grown beyond that. Now, I go to the gym to clear my head by testing my will and resolve. I do it to see how hard I can push my limits and I strive to outwork everyone else there. I may not be the strongest, the fastest or the fittest. I may not lift the most weight or even do the most reps – I can’t control any of those variables – but I can control my effort. So one of my goals for each workout is to unleash more effort than anyone else at the gym. But along with this
Post a Comment
Read more