The Hardest Part is Getting to the Starting Line
The 100-meter dash is the signature track and field event of the Olympics with the 100-meter world record holder earning the mythical title of the “World’s Fastest Human.” The current 100-meter world-record is 9.58 seconds set by Usain Bolt on August 16, 2009 in Berlin Germany. The retired Jamaican, considered the greatest sprinter of all-time, holds the world record in both the 100 and 200 meters, winning each event in three consecutive Olympics. It is an incredible accomplishment
In America, track and field is relegated to a niche sport, receiving scant attention unless it’s the every-four-year Olympic cycle. The majority of American sports fans see sprinters like Bolt for that brief ten-seconds of glory every four-years and then turn their attention back to the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball.
What the public sees is Usain Bolt’s athletic dominance over ten second sprint. What they don’t see is the hard work world class athletes like Bolt put in to remain elite. In a competition where fractions of a second can determine the winner, it’s the work the training the athletes put in on a daily basis, outside of the competition, that sets them apart.
The hardest part is getting to the starting line.
Getting to the starting line is the culmination of years of training, proper diet and the mastering of the mental game. It’s about getting up and working hard on some random day in January when you don’t feel like it. To steal a line from Brian Johnson and one of my favorite websites, Optimize, success is all about getting to the starting line of life every single day.
Yes, Usain Bolt won the genetic lottery. He was gifted with unique physical abilities that allow him, if trained properly, to be world class. But being gifted like Bolt does not guarantee success, it’s just part of the equation. Elite athletes like Bolt achieve greatness by combining their physical gifts and a determination to work hard every single day towards their goal.
They get to the starting line every single day.
The idea of getting to the starting line every single day makes sense as I write this on a Sunday evening, relaxed and ready to tackle my week with energy. Unfortunately, all too often, I don’t hit the ground running on Monday morning. The day that started with big goals in mind and the energy to tackle them sometimes feels a bit different when that alarm clock goes off early Monday.
By why is it so hard? Why are there days where it just feels like we never get off the starting blocks?
According to Anders Ericsson, whose groundbreaking research came up with what Malcolm Gladwell called the ‘10,000 hours rule’, we all have the ability to be extraordinary in something.
From his book, Peak, Secrets from the New Science of Expertise:
“The main gift that these people have is the same one we all have— the adaptability of the human brain and body, which they have taken advantage of more than the rest of us.”
This doesn’t mean that we’re all going to be world class sprinters like Bolt, but we do have the ability to achieve remarkable things, unfortunately all too often our brain reminds us what we don’t have and how we lack the gifts, natural talent or advantages that others have.
Are these perceptions grounded in reality? Of course not.
Does negative self talk like this stop us in our tracks before we begin? All too often.
So how does Ericsson recommend that we push ourselves to overcome the limitations that our mind sets for us?
He believes the difference lies in how we practice. Simply doing something in a repetitive manner without focusing on how you’re doing it is what Ericsson defines as “naive practice”. Many of us have the believe that if we continue to do something we will inevitably get better, but that’s not the case, because the act of simply doing something doesn’t guarantee improvement. We are not being “purposeful” about it. I’m in sales so let’s use the famous example of cold calling. If you pick up the phone and make fifty cold calls every single work day for a year you will inevitably get better at it, but you won’t become great at it. It’s not until you really break down the elements of cold calling and apply structure to the process that you’ll truly get better.
Which leads us to the concept of “purposeful practice”. The idea of purposeful practice is adding a framework and structure around the way that you practice. Purposeful practice involves setting well-defined and specific goals in a focused manner that involves feedback and requires the participant to get outside of their comfort zone. A perfect example of someone leveraging a system of purposeful practice is joining Toastmasters to become a better public speaker. If you have a fear of public speaking you could use a non-focused approach and just throw yourself in front of groups and, over time, you will become more confident at speaking in front of others, but you won’t become a great public speaker. Toastmasters incorporates a framework and structure around the art of public speaking. Every attendee at each Toastmasters session gets up and speaks in front of the group, forcing them to get outside of their comfort zone. They then receive feedback from the other participants. Additionally the Toastmasters framework teaches the participants the art and science behind becoming a good public speaker. At Toastmasters you are practicing in a “purposeful” way.
Ericsson then takes it one step further by defining what he calls “deliberate” practice, which is purposeful practice but with the addition of a teacher or specialized training program in your field to help you along the way. Ericsson believes that for anyone to reach elite status in their field they’ll need to employ some type of specialized training or personalized coaching to take the purposeful practice idea and turn it into deliberate practice. A first step toward this is working with a mentor in the particular area you want to be elite at.
So what does all this purposeful and deliberate practice actually do for us?
How does it get us to the starting line on a daily basis?
According to Ericsson purposeful and deliberate practice drives improvement through the process of Homeostasis. Homeostasis is the state of steady internal conditions maintained by living things. Essentially, our bodies adapt to keep us stable, with every cell in our body working to maintain stability. What science has discovered is that the act of pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone forces the body to overcompensate and create greater homeostasis. Essentially the more we push ourselves, the stronger we are going to get, both physically and mentally.
You’re leveraging that acute stress, or positive stress, to make our bodies and mind adapt and get stronger by creating greater homeostasis. You’re becoming anti-fragile.
More broadly, Ericsson believes that the act of deliberate practice challenges homeostasis, forcing our brains and body to adapt, creating even greater change and achieving even better outcomes. One famous example used by Ericsson and others is the study of the brains of London cab drivers. Studies have shown that London cab drivers, forced to memorize 25,000 city streets, typically have an over-developed Hippocampi, the part of the brain that navigates spatial intelligence. The process of memorizing the city grid over time has literally grown their Hippocampus. Interestingly enough, when the London cab drivers retire, their Hippocampus reverts back to normal size. in this situation, their brain expands and contracts like a muscle.
So how do we get to the starting line every single day?
The answer is to live life in a more deliberate fashion. If there is something you want to get better at, or an area of your professional life that you want to excel at, take a more scientific approach. Don’t just go through the motions daily, mindlessly completing your tasks with the hope you get better. Add structure or a system to how you approach your day. I’ve written before about how important systems are in building models of success. While you’re at it, get out of your comfort zone. Challenge yourself daily to try something new or something that typically would make you uncomfortable. Most importantly, take a proactive interest in the field or area of study you want to become great at. Find books, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. to make yourself better. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you don’t have a mentor or someone that you look up to for professional or personal advice, find one. If you feel you’re struggling from a mindset standpoint, look into a psychologist or a mindset coach that you can work with.
More broadly, find a passion in what you do. I realize this isn’t always easy, but if you want to get to the starting line every single day with purpose you’ll need something more than the motivation to collect a paycheck. Even the most disciplined people in the world will struggle if what they do doesn’t interest them. Find inspiration in the process of getting better on a daily basis and the simplicity of doing your job, but if what you’re doing isn’t motivation enough push yourself to find something bigger and better.