How Humility Can Help You Succeed in Running (And in Life)
You lace up your running shoes, take a few sips of water and blast your workout playlist that you created specifically for this occasion. First few minutes in and you feel like Rocky, hoping to come across a middle-aged fruit vendor to toss you an apple. And then you feel like you’ve reached your limit 10 minutes later.
If there is one thing that I have learned from running it is this…
It can really humble the S#^! out of you!
Running has been an important part of my life. For over 10 years, It has helped me get physically and mentally into shape. But I would be lying if I said my routine has always been consistent.
I recently got back into running after a few months off, and it sucked. I felt a sense of incompetence and disappointment after a failed attempt to start where I left off. Slowly walking back home, I realised that I had to go back to square one.
If only we could pick up where we left off.
If only life was that simple. It’s not.
This is where humility comes in.
Be honest with yourself
The term ‘humility’ has been met with some contention. Some see humility as a tool that combats pride, and others link it with weakness and fragility. But, the very core of humility is honesty. To be honest with ourselves. This is not an easy task. George Washington writes,
“I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.”
Facing the truth is confronting. We don’t like seeing our flaws and weakness. Being honest with ourselves means that we will have to accept our imperfections — that we don’t hold all the answers and we can’t simply just pick up where we left off.
When I got back into running, I had to accept that I was a few kilograms heavier, I needed to improve my diet, my form needed work, and I didn’t have the endurance or stamina that I had at the start of the year.
Start with small solid steps
When I think of humility, I am reminded of a Jungian idea that I heard from a Jordan Peterson lecture. In the lecture, Jordan Peterson says, “we don’t see God because we don’t look low enough”. We often start hobbies and leisure activities wanting to become an expert the very next day. We are driven by our excitement, our ego and eagerness to succeed. It’s just liked the wave of beginner boxers who want to immediately challenge the best. The problem is many of us want to rush to the end goal without acquiring the proper knowledge and skills. And, failing to do so, often leads to disappointment, discouragement, and burnout. There is nothing wrong with wanting to succeed.
But just know, success requires you to do the work.
When I started to take up running again, I made the mistake of setting large and ambitious goals. So, I decided to set shorter goals throughout the course. I noticed that setting shorter check points helped me to work on building proper form, and increase momentum and confidence on the track.
When it got tough, I focused on reaching the next dividing line on the pavement (the technical term is contraction point). When I would reach one dividing line, I would set a goal to reach the next one, a few metres ahead of me. My focus was not set on reaching home, but, it was set on reaching the next dividing line on the pavement. It was a practice that reminded me of the importance of breaking down big goals into small achievable ones.
Be open to learning
Humility requires us to have an openness to learn. In an interview with Ryan Holiday, Former NBA player and Coach, Coby Karl, says,
“The truth of it is if you really want to grow, you got to have people in your life that are willing to tell you, your wrong or to do it differently.”
And it is through this that we acquire knowledge, or as St Thomas Aquinas expresses “Where there is humility there is wisdom.”
While my running is done solely for exercise, I have been able to connect with friends about running, and we will occasionally share the km’s that we have ran and what has helped us along the way. We are also living in an age where we have access to knowledge and wisdom from experts and professional athletes, all with just the click of a button.
Final Words
Humility requires us to be honest, to be measured and to be open to learning. When we do this, we can work on the areas that need the most help in. We can slow down, and fully embrace the learning process. We reflect and evaluate and know that there is always more that can be done. And, we can truly appreciate those who have supported us on the journey.
But, when pride and ego takes over and we ignore our flaws and we only rely on ourselves, we must ask…
“If the whole world followed you — followed to the letter
Would it be a nobler world,
All deceit and falsehood hurled
From it altogether;
Malice, selfishness, and lust,
Banished from beneath the crust,
Covering human hearts from view
Tell me, if it followed you,
Would the world be better?”
Unknown Author
Thanks for reading
If you are interested, I have written another article on Humility
Until next time!
Stephen
