RUN!
Lessons for On & Off the Track & Field of Life
By John Thomas Crestwell, Jr.
© Copyright, 2019 by John T. Crestwell, Jr.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written
permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief
passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, Internet article, or
magazine.
First Digital Printing
Annapolis, MD
This book was written for cross country and track and
field runners of all ages but especially 14-30 years of age.
This book
is especially for parents who have children running in a youth program.
This book is also an intended as a resource in best practices
for coaches at all levels.
I’ve only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, can’t refuse it,
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it,
But it’s up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give an account if I abuse it,
Just a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.
Minute
-Dr. Benjamin Mays
RUN!
Contents
About the Author 8
Foreword 9
Introduction – Why You Should Read This Book 11
I. “Gotta Love It!” – Success & Visualization 12
II. “Move!” – Who Are You? 22
III. “Push, Push!” –Practice, Patience and PRs 29
IV. “Breathe!” –Relax, Relate, Release 36
V. “Whoop, Whoop!” – In The Zone 44
VI. “Hydrate” – The Magic of 64 ounces 51
VII. “Eat Something” – Preparation (Self Care)61
VIII. “Lean! Reach for the Line!” – Remember the Basics 70
Afterword 74
Contact the Author 80
Book Preview – You Were Made For So Much More 81
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rev. John Thomas Crestwell, Jr. is a Spiritual/Mind/Life Coach, teacher, Unitarian
Universalist minister, and singer who is dedicated to teaching principles that uplift
and develop the personal power and highest potential in human beings. He has
devoted the last decade toward teaching emotional literacy competencies, which
he describes as “Learning to articulate
feelings and needs in positive ways that generate many successful outcomes in
life.” Rev. John believes that
finding and living your life’s purpose is the way to thrive and experience joy
every day.He has spoken before thousands, served on several non-profit boards, and written for many publications. John has been an entrepreneur and holds degrees in Mass Media Arts and Theological Studies. He is best described as a “down to earth people-person who is fascinated by human nature.”
John was an athlete growing up, skiing, playing football, basketball, tennis and studying martial arts while also running cross country and track. In college, he was actively involved in sports broadcasting doing play-by-play and game analysis for football and basketball games as well as doing sports reporting on radio and television at Hampton University. His first career was in marketing and advertising, which eventually led him toward entrepreneurship, ministry, and most recently his work as a Spiritual/Mind/Life Coach.
Rev. John is married and has five, mostly adult, children. His youngest, Zephyr, is a high school track and field athlete.
Foreword
Competing in cross
country or track and field makes me think of the days of old when people
entertained the emperor in the arena.
They proved their worth by showing they had warrior-like abilities to fight,
run, jump, and throw with accuracy. It
took endurance and perseverance to overcome the odds and the winner received
all the glory and praise; sometimes the loser (if their life was spared)
received honor for the hard-fought match.
Survival of the fittest, Charles Darwin’s popular but controversial
theory, has always applied to human beings. Our early ancestors needed superior hunting skills
to survive harsh earthly conditions—the strongest or most adaptable lived on. These tough men and women became our progenitors.
We come from people who could run fast,
throw and jump with precision; people who could run long distances to find the
tribe’s next meal. Their lives depended
on it! The ones who were the most
talented were seen as the leaders, and because of their gifts many thrived. Our ancestors became “top of the food chain” over
the animal kingdom because of their mastery of their physicality along with the
development of their large brains, allowing them to effectively strategize how
to use their physical gifts even more efficiently. Our forebears knew that thriving meant not
just physical brute strength but finesse and endurance as well. They learned to survive by using their mind
(mental toughness) and body—pushing both to their limits until the goal was
achieved.
I think a track
and field athlete or runner at any level is a warrior. In my experience, most of the top runners I’ve
met or watched are mentally and physically strong people. They are mostly successful in life; they’re great
parents, students, and human beings because they’ve learned to push themselves through
pain time and time again. Pain while
training and competing becomes, for runners, a microcosm of life. Today athletes don’t compete for their lives to be spared (thankfully) but simply be challenged and to win. They are in love with, as it is said, “the
thrill of victory and agony of defeat”.
It is their high and low and all the space in between that drives them
to do and be better and better.
Tangentially, and in my opinion, those dedicated to track and field or running in general are some of the best and most attractive people on the planet. I heard someone say “track does a body good.” Physically that’s true, but runners are also mentally sharp and quality individuals. Many of them have high IQ’s, most are excellent students, and running is their drug as it gears them up for all of life’s challenges. These athletes have strong will and determination, and they listen to that inner “still small voice” that drives them onward and upward no matter the odds. They are some of the most disciplined people on the planet! But runners are human too, and warriors need to pause and reflect. Competitors need self-care and rest. Runners of all ages need mental preparation and reminders even more than physical preparation. That big brain needs new goals, challenges and rewards. The mind and soul need perspective and time for reflection. We don’t realize how much everything we see, hear, and do affects our preparation. Most tend to think toxicity is something outside that we “catch” like when we get sick—a bug we picked up. But studies show that disease or dis-ease is as much mental as it is from physical exertion or exhaustion. This book, RUN, is about the inside “meet” between you and life. This short publication is your go-to book to get you re-grounded. RUN is philosophical but it is also basic and a best-practice guide for you. This book best serves runners that are 14-30 years of age, parents of runners, and coaches. I made this publication inexpensive ($5) and easy to access (through Amazon online) because I want it to become your go-to that you can carry wherever you go as long as you have your Kindle or cellular device. My hope is that RUN will be that book professionals and amateurs run to—pun intended—when you need to be reminded of your highest aspirations. If you enjoy RUN, pass it on to someone. Also, send me a note and let me know what you think. Let’s develop our relationship and thrive together. I look forward to meeting you. Now let’s get started…Please turn the page so I can tell you why I wrote this book…
Introduction
Why I WROTE This Book
I have spent thousands of hours participating in
and watching track and field or cross country running. I’m long retired from
running (I walk briskly now) so most of my activity involves watching on
Flotrack.org, television, or going to see my youngest son practice or compete
at the club and high school levels. If
you are a parent you know it is a labor of love, but grueling. The sore butt, stiff back and aching neck
from travel and sitting; the black circles around the eyes from the early
mornings, money expended, and long hours preparing the kid(s) for hours of
waiting and a few seconds of running. My
son will say to me, “You’re just sitting and looking. How hard is that?” True, but to get to that place of “sitting
and looking” there are many hours of prep work to simply get him where he needs
to be (practices included). I remind him
of this often and he concedes often. He knows I’m right because he sees me week
after week doing my ritual of going grocery shopping, cooking, coaching him up,
and packing his food/drink bag weekdays and weekends because I love him and
know he’s passionate about running and competing. Passion is not something that comes to many
so I want to support his love for running as long as I can and as far as it
will take him. Plus, he’s pretty good!
Yes, I’m biased.
Today,
the two, three, and now six day a week practices are a part of my life. As I said, it’s a labor of love. My joy in this process has come in my
discovery of the many lessons I’ve learned along the way— lessons for athletes,
coaches and anyone interested in improving their performance in life.
Because
I’m in the business of analyzing people (when not at a practice or a meet), I
have been an active listener with every coach I or my son had/has. I deeply appreciate these mostly volunteers
for their dedication—they are special human beings, and they provide a platform
for my continued education in understanding successful living. I’ve learned from my own journey as well. I’ve seen myself at my best and worst and
I’ve seen coaches at their best and worst.
My book, RUN, focuses on best practices, coaching lessons that have
created exceptional results on and off the track and field of life. This book is the culmination of some of the
most important lessons I learned, experienced, and teach to others in nearly 50
years of living—teachings that I hope will propel your personal or professional
pursuits.
When you are done with each
chapter, take notes and review the “takeaways” for your personal growth and
development. This is the beginning of
what I hope will be an ongoing relationship we can have so that you can
manifest your greatness on and off the track and field of life. Please turn the page to begin…
Out of the night that
covers me
Black as the Pit from pole
to pole,
I thank whatever gods may
be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of
circumstance
I have not winced nor
cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of
chance
My head is bloody but
unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath
and tears
Looms but the Horror of
the shade,
And yet the menace of the
years
Finds, and shall find, me
unafraid.
It matters not how strait
the gate,
How charged with
punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my
fate;
I am the captain of my
soul.
Invictus
-William
Ernest Henley
CHAPTER I.
“Gotta
Love It!”
Success
& Visualization
The first time I heard “gotta love it” I was ten
years old and at practice running outdoor track for the Anacostia Youth
Athletic Club in Washington, DC. I
remember so well the lime-green rubber track.
The smell of the rubber is something you never forget. My white Puma spikes wouldn’t forget either
because after several practices they were green from the rubber dust
permanently stained on them. This was
how the outdoor track at Ballou High School was in 1979. It was a fast track, though! You could feel yourself bouncing off the
surface as you ran. I loved that track! I ran relays, as well as the 100, 220 and 440
yard dash (dating myself here). Every
time I get an inkling of that rubbery smell today it brings back memories of my
youth. I know when I think I smell that rubber track I’m just imagining it, because
most tracks today are made of the newer more weather-resistant synthetic polyurethane. Even still, I get
nostalgic just thinking about it.
Back to my story… I was finishing a sprint when I heard one of
the coaches say those magical words, “Gotta love it, Crestwell!” I was exhausted, so there was no magic in the
words back then. But years later, I
heard them again and again as I sat at track meets watching my son
perform. I heard them from present and
former athletes—they’d be saying it with a smile on their face or while giving
a high-five to someone. One day as I sat
in the hot sun, nearly 40 years later, it occurred to me that the language of
track and field or running in general has not changed. It is the language of the sport that brings
us together—the colloquialisms, the rhymes and quotes used to motivate and
manage the thrills and the agonies. It
is this connection that makes all athletes family and you see it during and
after meets. A common bond is shared and
any runner knows that a track and field athlete, cross country, or marathon
runner is a special, dedicated and disciplined human being.
Although many know they
are a part of a large running community across the world, it doesn’t mean you
don’t get burned out, tired, or frustrated with your results and life in
general. I know that progress is
sometimes slow and there are moments when you feel tapped out. I like to say that if you want to progress then you must process the “who, what, when, where, why and how”
in order to get back on your game. Let’s
do that now…
The first step in getting
to or back to your “A game” is by simply remembering what you love about the
sport. You have to reinvigorate your desire
first, get hungry again; but not through more running, or weightlifting, or
cross-training, or more plyometric workouts. This is done by reflection,
contemplation and by visualizing where you are and where you wish to be. There is a hidden secret in this that I will
share with you if you don’t already know…
You VISUALIZE in order to REALIZE
so that you can MAXIMIZE your results on and off the track and field of life.
VISUALIZATION requires a
definition of success. Is your success
about the time you run, being on the podium, having endorsements, running
overseas, going pro, or going to the Olympics?
Is success doing well enough to have a big house, having a lot of money,
or the resources to start a family? What
do you want to accomplish today and why?
When do you wish to start? Who is
with you? Where, what place(s) will this
success be? Write or journal your
thoughts. Once you are clear with this,
the “how” will find you. What you need
to do will become clear. As you seek
your dream(s) out it seeks you—it is a magical process indeed. The late, great mythologist and scholar
Joseph Campbell says, and I agree, that there are magic and invisible hands of
fate when you follow your bliss with clear intention. You cannot send mixed signals to the universe
and expect a clear message.
Additionally, visualizing your success begins with defining your success
before you can see it into reality. Finding
your success is not doing what your coach or parent says, but doing what you
are driven to do by the vision, dream or goal you have in your heart.
I
have several definitions for success I want to offer that may be different from
what you’ve read. These have served me
well in developing my own successes… 1. Success
is not how far you go outside but how good you feel inside. 2.
Success is feeling good about the passion(s) you pursue. 3. Success is the realization of a worthy
goal you’ve created.
Based on the three
definitions above, pick one or all three depending on your aspiration(s). If you are a young athlete then maybe it is definition
2 and 3, but if you are currently competing, it may be definition 3 only; you
may be retired and only run for your health—then maybe definition 1 fits where
you are in life. The key is to recognize
where you are on your journey before you create your goals and vision for
success. If you are an athletic coach it
is critical that you NOT over-stress winning and losing as the definition of what
success is. This is only one kind of
success. Winning has always mattered—it is significant—but not the most
important lesson to learn. Plus, coming
in first or winning all the time is unrealistic and not the end goal. It’s a part of the process. At the end is peace of mind, happiness,
contentment—that is the goal for humans.
We lose a lot in life, whether it’s a race, job, relationship, etc. Specifically,
in track and field and cross country, winning is reserved for only a few out of
thousands of athletes, so what do we do with all the other finishers? I have seen children chastised and even
punished for their place. This is a
critical error that leads to trauma and the child ends up feeling bad about
themselves, which leads to them quitting on themselves and their team. The best motivation for children ages 8-14 is
definitions 1 and 2 (look at them again).
I assure you, all of the definitions will be manifested in due time if
the runner is devoted, talented and persistent.
After deciding what
success looks like for you, now you’re ready to understand the depth of what visualization
offers. Two of the best books ever
written on visualizing your way to personal success are Napoleon Hill’s The Law of Success (1928) and Earl
Nightingale’s The Strangest Secret (1956). Both books capture the essence of what is
required to think your way to your success.
Hill said this: “You have been endowed with the power to use the most
highly organized form of energy known to man, that of thought… Imagination is a faculty of the mind which
can be cultivated, developed, extended and broadened by use.”
Nightingale said this: “You are now,
and you do become, what you think about…
Every one of us is the sum total of his own thoughts...”
When
you are burned out it is NOT because your body is tired (rest is required, of
course) but it is because your VISION is burned out. Your goal that once motivated you is no
longer sufficient. Your definition of
success is cloudy and is in need of sunshine.
You change the weather forecast in your mind by rebooting your outlook. This “stinkin’ thinkin’” is a kind of
deficiency or virus that we are all susceptible to without rebooting our
mindset. To get out of your “funk” and
find your “A” game again, you must understand the mind and body connection.
If you will allow
me to use a computer analogy: the brain is your hardware and only does what it
is told by the mind. The mind is your
software, and the body is the mainframe.
Each has a part to play in visualizing success but if the mind isn’t
receiving and providing the proper stimulus “updates” to the brain, the
computer “body” will not function at its maximum capacity. The computer—your body—will get sluggish and
after a while it malfunctions or reaches a place of burnout; some of the mental
files have become corrupted by the virus of toxic thinking. Remember progress
comes after properly processing
things. The mind must be regularly reinvigorated, as I said rebooted, and the
software—that is the mind—must be reenergized by your tech support system—that
will pass on the right updates to the mind and body. I call your tech support system your spiritual
“big S self” or the God of your understanding.
For those not religious, call it tapping in to your higher self. The
energy, hope, motivation, and belief that comes to you time and time again is
not your brain, mind or body according to Hill and Nightingale, and countless
others. Rather, your power comes from a place or a plane of reality that holds
your dreams, desires, and aspirations.
This plane has your best intentions at heart; it is a field of consciousness—your field of dreams—that
knows what you want most and how to get you there. Some call this intuition, a gut feeling;
others call it God or spirit. Trusting
this presence that is inside of you and outside of you is vital in visualizing
your success.
Getting
back on top of your priorities and moving toward your goals requires connection
with this power source. It is there to
serve you and guide you; to heal, strengthen and celebrate life with you. This source, “big S” is there to help you
eliminate the toxic waste developed from personal and professional
relationships that have let you down. No
matter where you are on your athletic journey, trust this “still small
voice”. You can align with “S” through
daily meditation, prayer, walks, hikes, conversations with a trusted coach or confidant,
or by simply thinking about what you need to improve. You don’t have to close your eyes. Just sit with your struggles, pains or fears
and ask for clarity. It is that
simple. There is power in asking. Place your intentions out in the universe,
visualize having the thing(s) you desire, then let it all go—surrender it all
knowing the outcome will be what is best for your life. As the author Pablo
Coelho wrote, in the book The Alchemist,
trust that “when you want something, all the
universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” and allow the miracle to
happen. It will!
Visualizing
also requires, as the monks say, “right thinking”. If thoughts are things then you must align
your thoughts with the things you desire.
Take time every day to see yourself finishing your race strong, or
beating your personal record, or jumping higher than you imagined. Imagine shooting a TV commercial, or carrying
the American flag or having the material things you seek. This practice is so important!
Right
thinking also requires you to monitor the people, places and things in your
life. It requires careful analysis of
what you read, watch, and do in your spare time. To get to and stay in your “A” game you must
be committed to practices that further discipline the mind and body—remember
they are one. When you are aligned with
your internal spirit nature, you will almost always know when you are in the
wrong place or with the wrong person.
Like Spiderman’s “Spidey Sense” you will feel something buzz inside of
you when you are aligned and unaligned. Strange things will occur to warm or
warn you. Trust these sensations.
After developing a
consistent practice of listening to “S” you will begin to REALIZE more results
on and off the track and field of life.
You will feel better more often than not. You will visualize strong practices and
manifest them with efficiency and effectiveness. Synchronicities will happen. You will think people, places and things into
your life with little effort. When
things get rolling it will be easy to forget that your inner-practice is what
got you to these positive outer-practice results. Your body is strong and resilient as an
athlete and it can trick your mind into believing you can physically power
yourself through anything. Not true. Don’t forget form whence you’ve come. Humility is always required. As an example, there’s a psychiatric patient
who takes medication and gets better over time; so much better that soon he believes
he no longer needs his medicine. He
says, “I feel invincible” and eventually stops taking the prescription. In just a few days he relapses—the same
mental illness that he thought he’d escaped captures him again.
Your daily medicine is
your “S” ritual(s) you do each day. We
all need this kind of spiritual medicine less we fall back into negative
patterns of thinking that sabotage our physical and emotional success. With consistent and humble inner and outer
practices, we develop a way of being that can overcome and accomplish anything. Through daily visualization we see and think
our way toward our vision as that vision moves toward us. When
you realize this—that you must have a daily grounding ritual(s) that empowers
and stabilizes your efforts, then you are well on your way forward.
MAXIMIZING your best
stuff on and off the track and field of life comes when you fall in love over
and over with what you do—running. Knowing that it is a gift from the cosmos
opens up every other aspect of your life and makes you a better human being. When you discover (again) that “I can do
this… I’m good at this,” you find your lover all over again. It’s the remembering, the “joy you feel
while pursuing your passion” that propels your effort. Passion is a strong word
and means you have a strong feeling for a thing. Passion is linked to love because love is
passionate, indeed! You need passionate love
for what you do to maximize your results.
As my coach said to me that day on the track, “You gotta love it” to
make it happen. To generate the power
that comes with passion you practice visualizing and realizing what is
possible. You set measurable and
achievable goals; and you create at least one expectation that scares you just
a little bit. As renowned life coach Dr.
Cherie Carter Scott says, “The dream isn’t big enough if it doesn’t scare you a
little.” If you include visualizing and
realizing into your daily life, you are on your way to maximizing your results.
The next step in
mastering the track and field of life is knowing who you are beyond winning and
competing. Who are you? Answering this question will give you all
that you seek. Let’s examine this in the
next chapter…
“Gotta Love It!”
Success & Visualization
Takeaways:
ü
You must define what success looks like for you.
ü
Visualize to realize in order to maximize your
results.
ü
You do not progress until you process what is
happening.
ü
The mind and body are one each effecting the
other.
ü
Right-thinking will propel your success.
ü
There is a field of consciousness that has your
back.
ü
Your “S” ritual(s) or spiritual practices align
you with what your best stuff and is vital to see and think your way forward.
ü
As you move toward your vision it also moves
toward you!
ü
Magic and miracles will happen as you follow
your bliss!
“I am that
I am.” – Exodus 3:14
CHAPTER II.
“Move!”
Who
Are You?
I
|
have three biological kids and two step-kids. They each have very strong personalities and
I love them all a bunch; however, because I love track and field and my
youngest son runs (cross country/indoor/outdoor), he gets much of my attention
right now as I train him and watch him be trained to compete in beating his
personal best times.
I was asking his mother to tell me the story of his name “Zephyr” again
and why she chose it. I named my oldest
son after me and she wanted to name our last child. She said she looked in a book of names and
when she saw the name and its meaning she was immediately drawn to it. “I will name him Zephyr and he will be able
to run fast!” she said. I asked her what
his name meant and she said that it was a Greek god and meant “the west wind…A
gentle west wind.”
Not long after “Z” could walk he was running all over the place. I started him with football (like many dads)
but did not like the risk of concussions; so he started track at age 9. Today, as it has been from the beginning,
when I watch Zephyr run he makes it look effortless. Whether it’s a 400, 800, 1500 or 5k he has a
look on his face that appears to be peaceful and at ease. He assures me it hurts (and invites me to try
it) but sometimes he is so calm I don’t know if he’s working hard enough.
For me, Zephyr is realizing and living into who/what he is. Z was named in love and finds love in doing
what he was made to do. This is truly
beyond our understanding. Sure, his
mother picked his name, but there’s more here.
We have seen names in the past and present, Martin Luther King, Usain Bolt,
Tiger Woods and many others who manifest or become in the flesh what their name
represents in some way. There is power
in what we name. That’s my point. Clarifying, my point is not that you need a
catchy or meaningful name—even though nicknames and birth names do assist
people striving for greatness in some area—but rather who you believe you
are has EVERYTHING to do with your success on and off the track and field of
life.
When practice gets hard. When
relationships get tough. When you are
fighting with all you’ve got, what voices are you hearing between your
ears? When you are running “cheek to cheek”
and the coaches and team are yelling “move!” what else do you hear in your
mind? “I can’t. I’m tired.
I never win. I don’t feel like
doing this. I’m a loser. I’m not
prepared. I don’t have it….” What are you hearing? I have said to my son that as he stands there
before he runs, rocking back and forth, jumping up and down, stretching and
breathing in and out, to have a simple conversation with himself. “I am the wind…I run like the wind… I get out
fast, I finish strong, I give my best…I was born to do this.” I’m not sure he does it but the idea is that
the stuff you say about yourself on the track, as well as off the track,
determine many of the realities in your life.
We all carry negative baggage from our parents, neighborhoods, cultures,
and the like. We bring this with us in
every relationship we are in. The more
we become aware of these influences over how we think (especially about
ourselves) the more we can overcome the negative self-talk that weakens our
ability to compete successfully.
The late Dr. David R. Hawkins, studied kinesiology and built on an
earlier idea that muscles strengthen and weaken based on internal and external
stimulus. A simple test, still used
today by many doctors, shows participants how specific things we see, smell,
taste, hear and touch cause muscles to grow strong or weak when tested. In his studies of thousands of patients, he
concluded that thoughts of love, courage, pride, and peace strengthened and
helped to heal patients, while their opposites, hate, fear, anxiety, and
anger—caused them to weaken. How
revolutionary is this? Every athlete
must understand that whatever you are saying to yourself before you compete
WILL impact your race for better or worse.
The inner-self talk you have can strengthen or weaken you.
Dr. Hawkins findings in his many books tell us again that mind and body
are connected. What we think impacts our
performance. I say again, positive
self-talk has healing antigens while negative thoughts make us weaker and even
ill. Most competitors know this
intuitively but knowing that there is science to back up the feelings should
give you an extra kick in the rear to absolutely work on who you believe you
are, on and off the track.
My friend and colleague who runs the Lion Heart Foundation, Robin
Casarjian, takes this question (Who are you?) to inmates across the country
through her book Houses of Healing. Robin is a remarkable lady who has her
own story to tell. Raped twice and left
to question why, she turned life’s mess into her personal message, starting the
Lion Heart Foundation as a way to work with at-risk youth, teen mothers and
those incarcerated. She discovered early
in her recovery that those who are at risk and/or commit atrocities do not
believe in their inherent worth and dignity.
She discovered that they believed that they are bad and unworthy people
and the rest of their life becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In an early chapter in her book, she asks
those serving time to look deeply at their wounds and how they wound up in
prison and asks them to analyze the thoughts, feelings and actions that got
them there. She asks them not to blame
outside circumstances (it’s not the hand you’re dealt but how you play your
cards) but to look within. Robin knows
there are complex economic, class, and racial issues at play, but that is not
the focus of her message. She wants them
to own their stuff! Using what she calls
emotional literacy—which is helping people to express their underlying values, feelings
and needs in positive nonjudgmental ways, Robin and I have witnessed and led
workshops using her techniques and questions where you literally see the light
come on in the eyes of those at-risk or locked up. It is a beautiful thing! One of the exercises that helps consists of
writing on a piece of paper who you see yourself as in your many roles—past and
present... I’ve done this many times and
over the years discovered that it’s not just for at-risk folks or those in
prison. This work is for everyone. So try it…
WHO ARE
YOU 10 YEARS AGO?
WHO ARE
YOU 5 YEARS AGO?
WHO ARE
YOU TODAY?
I
am_________________________________________
I am ________________________________________
I am
________________________________________
I am
_________________________________________
I am
_________________________________________
I am
__________________________________________
I am
__________________________________________
As you do this exercise, think about your many roles and titles; also
think about your fears. There are no
right and wrong answers. Be honest with
yourself and you will see areas where you have grown and other areas that need
addressing, especially the areas where you over-judge yourself or others. You might have written “I am a strange
person.” Take the unpleasant things you
find and speak to a trusted coach or colleague.
What begins to happen is that by writing and speaking these issues into
existence, you summon them into your life for investigation. Some of the attributes you will welcome and
use for great things; other negative feelings will have to be consistently and
intentionally addressed to remedy. The
key is knowing and expanding your personal value. Becoming socially and psychologically aware
of what constrains you is your key to moving forward on the track and field of
life.
When you get stuck in questioning your worthiness, you impact your
outward performance. When you do not
know unequivocally that “I am love, joy, a good person made by greatness for
greatness” you will not be able to be at your best on and off the track and
field of life.
The next time you have 400 meters or more left to run and the lactic acid
has built up to a point where you don’t know how you’re remaining upright,
listen for that guttural sound from friends and coaches alike, “MOVE! MOVE!
MOVE!” Hear it differently next
time. See it as a clarion call to your
inner self to remember who you really are and what you’re capable of when
you’re acting out of your best stuff.
Hear the call as your cue to remember to give it your all, to be your
best because you are capable of doing that; you deserve to do that because that
is who you are. It’s easier said than
done and my son reminds me of that often, but words you hear and say
matter. All words matter so practice
containing and taming the negative self-talk for positive affirmations.
I want to be more explicit here.
You will have bad days and weeks.
That’s life. You will think and
say things you shouldn’t. Apologize to
yourself and others, ask to be forgiven.
Make this a part of your practice as well—saying I’m sorry and please
forgive me. It’s the right thing to do
and you will be surprised to find that it is also the healthy thing to do. Ask anyone who has attended support groups
where part of the work is about making amends for wrongs said and done to
others and you will quickly hear stories of healing, love and reconciliation.
When you choose the life of track and field, you choose to be not just an
individual but a community, and as such, you will encounter people, places and
things that will absolutely challenge your ongoing effort to manifest
greatness. But remember that these moments
are tests. They are in your life to
mirror back to you what you like and loathe in yourself. It’s easy to see this when things are
positive. However, the negatives are
opportunities for you to grow. The key
with moving your thinking is knowing that you are on a path and your challenges
will be unique to your desires, dreams or aspirations, so never compare where
you are with where someone else is!
That’s so important! It’s hard to
see when you’re in the middle of it but with time you will come to know that one
of life’s core truths is, as Dr. Cherie Carter Scott puts it, we are here to
learn lessons. Moving your thinking
means you are always a student—always learning, forgiving, evolving, resolving,
growing, and knowing that it’s the journey, not the destination, that makes us
great. It’s not the winning of medals
(an important sign of success, yes) but the learning of lessons that matters
most. That is the reason we exist.
Move!
Who Are You?
Takeaways:
ü
Be thoughtful when you name things because you
empower them
ü
Thoughts/words/deeds based in love strengthen
your performance
ü
Thoughts/words/deeds based in fear weaken your
performance
ü
Turn your mess into your method of success
ü
Knowing you are worthy enables and propels your
success
ü
As you move your thinking challenging events
will appear as tests
ü
Moving your thinking significantly improves your
performance/career/life
ü
When you hear “MOVE!” it is your clarion call to
manifest your best stuff
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
― Lao Tzu
― Lao Tzu
