A Marathon Is Not 42 km: It’s 42 Times 1 km — The Atomization Of Success
How to reverse-engineer your goals
Big goals are intimidating — Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, publishing a book, starting a business, doing an Ironman… which is why 99% of people never show up at the start line and quit before they try.
“It’s too hard.”
“I’m not tough enough.”
“I would never be able to do it.”
“It’s only for superhumans.”
Goals are daunting when tackled as a whole because our brain perceives them as unreachable: it can’t compute them, like the Universe. However, you can trick your mind by deconstructing the thick wall and focusing energy on one brick at a time.
A marathon is not 42km: It’s 42 times 1 km.
Although it’s mathematically the same, it makes a huge difference. While you can’t fathom running the remaining 26 km when you are in pain, you can make it to the next water station, you can push your body one more mile.
“Just one more mile…”
You break down the unachievable into tiny bits, and once you reach them, you collect your motivational badge, celebrate the win, and reset the mental clock.
