I felt discouraged this morning.
The process of getting this book deal done—and the manuscript—is taking longer than expected.
Then I remembered a concept in my book—a concept called run your race.
Man, that was analgesic. I felt way better.
Why?
Because when you run your race, you’re not worried about anything or anyone else. It’s you versus you. And when it’s you versus you, there’s no competition.
February 17, 2023
Last indoor meet of the season. I was in great shape. The goal was simple: set a personal record in the 400-meter dash, if not win.
The first half of the race flew like a knife through warm butter. I was nipping at the heels of this young man from Hope College. I can still feel his orange and blue jersey at my fingertips.
As we approached the final turn, I heard the roar of the crowd. He and I were shoulder-to-shoulder.
Then I made a costly error.
There’s a point near the end of the 400-meter dash called the kick—meaning, whatever energy you got left, you burn it all then and there.
Well, I kicked about twenty meters early.
The result? I did set a personal record that day. But instead of winning the race, I took third.
Why?
I was racing that young man from Hope College instead of running my race.
Learn from my mistake. As soon as you compete against, or compare yourself to others, you adopt the story of a victim—you self-sabotage. That’s Default.
When you run your race, however, you’re not worried about anyone else. It’s you versus you. And when it’s you versus you, there’s no competition.