The crazy thing about discipline...

Hey Reader,

My co-host had a discovery call with a sports psychologist this week and shared it on the pod.

She’s been trying to make sense of why she tanked her last two marathons, even though she trained well for them.

One of the things he said that stuck with me is that the very thing a lot of runners, professional athletes, and people in high-performance situations struggle with is also what makes them good at it.

The discipline, self-motivation, sticking to a plan…

He said all of that is great for the training, but when it comes to race day, it can be counterintuitive.

How so?

🧠 The paradox of discipline

Having a plan is great.

Being disciplined enough to work towards the plan and show up as ready as you can is awesome.

But you can get into the thing, and it doesn’t go how you pictured it.

Something feels off too early, or you’re a bit slower, or just not right.

Dealing with those unexpected moments can take you off course.

And trying to stick to the plan can affect your ability to adapt to the situation.

It can hold you back from really seeing the best action you can take in that moment.

❤️ Embrace the idea of change

Letting go of the need for things to go as planned is key to getting the most out of yourself when shit hits the fan.

Your mind becomes open to visualizing what can go wrong.

And more than that, you’re able to think about what you’re going to do in that moment.

That open state of mind gets you out of worrying about perfection or sticking to a plan.

You become focused on the things you can control.

You become flexible enough to find your flow in any given moment.

You still picture successful outcomes, but you visualize handling shitty outcomes in between.

And it's fine.

You become more open to change.

More ready for the unexpected.

More confident in yourself.

And you perform better.

So what plans do you have coming up?

Like Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Have you thought about what could go wrong?

What about what you’d do if something happened?

What’s on your list? What are the little things that can help you settle?

Get clear on those.

You’ll be far more ready than you think you are.

You’ve got this.

With appreciation,

Huw

We got into a sports psychologist’s take on letting go of always needing things to be perfect.

We also got into whether you can still get faster in your forties and fifties. I shared an inspiring Leadville comeback story about my friend’s first 100-miler, and loads more great topics.

Catch the conversation here.