Buddha said, “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what
we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” The
incredible power of positive thinking is the simplest lesson running has taught
me over the years. Simple does not mean the easiest. Unfortunately, many of us
have been conditioned to regard confidence as arrogance and that positivity is
idealistic and not compatible with the realities of life. I submit that these unfortunate lessons could
not be further from the truth. To any of
my “realist” friends, I realize you might take issue with this sentiment, and
while I do appreciate your pragmatism, I believe that we can truly influence
the outcome and events of our lives through our minds. Part of being positive is an unwavering belief
in yourself and your ability to impact the world around you. All greatness in the world has come from
people believing in themselves and believing that their dreams are great. We
all possess the potential for greatness thanks to the amazing power of our
brains. Sometimes we have to remove the learned and conditioned barriers to
believing in ourselves before we can access and project greatness into the
world.
I had a lot
of issues with greatness while running in college. I always believed I was
talented, but I was scared to death of not being as great as everyone thought.
I remember vividly the panic of not believing I was good enough. To deal with
this complete lack of personal positivity, I started seeing the sports psychologist
at Tennessee. Even though I would not fully
benefit from it until many years later, taking this step to understand these
fears and self-doubt was one of the most important game changers for me. The sports psyc spent many hours with me on
positive visualization. He would have me sit with my panic and turn it into
positivity by articulating my goals and visualizing myself achieving those
goals in the face of all possible adversity. Had it not been for running, I
would never have been exposed to such a debilitating lack of personal
positivity at a time when I had the perfect tools to change my mental state.
Think you
are great and you will be great. Visualize yourself setting your PR in your
peak race every time you step out the door to put in the hard work to achieve
that goal and watch it happen. I like to use Brian Tracy’s advice to say, “I
like myself” 100 times a day. When I do this small exercise, this simple but
incredibly positive message sinks deep into my subconscious. When I repeat this
simple message to myself, I only seem to think and make choices that are in the
interest of achieving what I am capable of. It makes the pursuit of my goals athletic and
otherwise so positive. It makes life fun, leads to less injury, and makes all
other goals in your life come true. Take all your set backs with a smile
knowing that every set-back is put there in your favor. The Universe works in
your favor always. Believe and watch magic happen.
Think
positively. Think about your goals happening in the present and you will become
the runner, mom, dad, co-worker, person you want to be. See its simple.
