Success Card #6

Clear your mind of can't.
~ Samuel Johnson

Okay, I admit I'm way behind the eight-ball when it comes to posting my success quotes. And this quote is quite appropos. I simply couldn't face getting back on here. All I could think was, "I can't, I can't, I can't." I was too physically tired, too emotionally exhausted, too blasted busy, just plain too worn out. There are times when can't is appropriate. We simply can't be in two places at one time.

But what I think this quote is referring to is the limitations that we place upon ourselves. Many people say, "I can't run." I ask, "Why not?" Usually it's because people say they either have "bad knees" or they are "too heavy." I can understand the bad knees part. Having run with a knee injury, I understand. But it isn't that we can't run, it's that we choose not to because, let's face it, running with bad knees is PAINFUL and may cause even greater injury. But too heavy? Uh, running will help take care of that.

Then I hear others say, "I can't swim." Again, I ask, "Why not?" Some folks are honest and admit they have issues with the water. They can't swim because of a self-imposed limitation: their fear of the water. Others say things like, "I just sink." Well, that's why they invented drills. To teach you to stay on top of the water. Frankly, we would all sink at some point if we didn't learn to float or tread water. In both cases, it a matter of choice. We either choose not to deal with the pain or we choose not to deal with our fear.

But back to the quote at hand. Removing can't from your mind. It brings back to me another quote, again on my sidebar: Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, either way, you are going to be right. If you tell yourself you can't do something enough times, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. You will be right. You cannot do that thing, because you have already said you can't, and you will then make the choices in your life to prove yourself right. You set yourself up for failure.

The same goes with telling yourself you can. This is clearly a case of "where there's a will, there's a way." If you go into a thing telling yourself you can do it, you set yourself up for success. There is always the chance that you won't succeed, but at least you don't defeat yourself before you ever get started.

Which is why this is so appropos for me right now. I did a 2 hour run on Saturday. Alone. In the wind. And the cold. I had to climb over a tree that had fallen across the trail. Later in the run, when I was already tired and felt beat to death by the wind and cold and my own dehydration, I was chased by a dog and almost tripped on some (rusty) barbed wire. It was the hardest run I've done in a long time. I wasn't fast. In fact, I was downright slow, even for pokey old me. I just felt beat to death.

On Sunday, I met a group of folks for a bike ride. It was 25 degrees at my house when I started out. I felt good starting out, but as the ride progressed, my legs got tired. I had no oomph left in them. I began to despair and I started to wonder why in the world I ever signed up for another Ironman. What in the world made me think I could do something so monumental. Who did I think I was kidding? Even as these thoughts entered my head, I knew if I didn't stop them, I would never succeed.

Fortunately, my coach called me shortly after these thoughts began. I shared them with her and she confirmed that we all have these thoughts, but that it was still early in the game and I still had time to be successful at IMC. It was some much needed encouragement.

None of us is immune to thoughts of self-doubt. I think what we need to focus on, or at least what I need to do, is to remember that they are just thoughts and that they will pass. As long as I continue with my training, as outlined by my coach, I'm confident that I will get better at both my cycling and my running and I will succeed. And for me, success, at least in this case, is merely crossing the finish line at IMC before midnight.