Making the Essential Enjoyable & Easy
Making Monday
I've heard it said that how we feel on Mondays is one of the clearest indicators of life satisfaction. Here is a quick thought on how to make Monday—and every day—work better...
Marathon Pacing
I'm interested in what we can learn from those who explore the limits of human experience and performance. And perhaps more important, how to apply these learnings to our everyday hero's journey.
A theme that keeps emerging in my studies and experiments is pacing.
For elite athletes, pacing is everything.
Whether it's the quest for the sub-two-hour marathon (Kelvin Kiptum came within 35 seconds earlier this month) or an open-ocean swim AROUND the British Isles (Ross Edgley's insane 157-day feat in 2018)…
Pace determines the outcome.
If we go out too fast or do too much for too long, we're cooked.
Kaput.
Not only will we not perform at our best, but we may also not even finish and end up sidelined by injury.
The art of the marathon is as much the practice of deep self-awareness and restraint as it is the effort of pushing limits.
Excellence seems more a matter of containing and strategically deploying energy, rather than discharging it in exuberant bursts.
This applies to any essential or important endeavor.
It's all too common to get jazzed up and sprint until we fall down.
So I wonder if we can find the patience and grace to honor the gentle, gradual curve of growth through conditioning?
And the organic cycle of performance and rest?
And the in-the-moment recognition of pacing?
This appears to be the only sustainable approach.
It's how to finish, as well as how to do it with greater joy and ease.
Together, let's end the fight to change—
Delmar
