The body loves stress or eustress to be more precise. It wants it. It craves it. There’s no middle ground, one’s physical capacities are either being progressed or regressed. You might not be aware but I am an extremist, so it might not surprise you to hear this is how I frame physical regression to myself – “my body is rotting away in comfort”. This is a tone of self-talk that works very well for me.
The mind on the other hand does not crave being pushed. It has no interest, and in what it understands as self preservation, will do everything within its power to stop you from creating a state of physical discomfort and the subsequent mental and emotional effects. Our minds are incredible machines in their capacities to avoid discomfort. The kings of resistance creation.
Some of it is so subtle and downright sneaky it’s almost impossible to recognise it as avoidance in the moment we are experiencing it. Alluring and attractive excuses. Compelling justifications and validations. Sometimes reasonable or even correct reasons to stop, quit, relent, avoid or distract, however buying into this internal narrative and succumbing to its easy option charm always has profound detrimental effects on us.
Therefore we have to find a way past the bullshit our mind will generate in its pitiful attempts to derail us from pushing ourselves. This is where the gold lies; in finding a way past our weakest self. In these moments of psychological wrestle lies, veiled, an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen yourself on the most fundamentally important human level and become an unstoppable force.
Note to self: You are not your thoughts. Endeavour to disassociate your identity from your thoughts. Certain thoughts will generate certain emotions, and as heavy as those emotions might feel, understand they are just emotions and not a reflection of you. You are pure awareness.
Scan the Plan is a specific visualisation practice we have created at Ironmind Institute to coach our revolutionary 4 Controllables Method. The issue we are trying to solve with the ‘Scan the Plan’ practice is recognition. As we said in Something to ponder – ‘Some of it is so subtle and downright sneaky it’s almost impossible to recognise it as avoidance in the moment we are experiencing it’ – recognition of the reality of what one is experiencing can be almost impossible because of the destabilising nature of the state. So what do we do to give ourselves the best opportunity to make that oh so important recognition? We play out the experience in our mind before we even start. We do what we call “bring to the front of our awareness” the probable moments of stress (physical, mental and emotional) that are going to happen and we live how we are going to navigate them using specific mental anchors. I say “live” because we practice seeing and feeling our reaction to the stress point, down to our psychological organisation (the mental steps we take to redirect our mind).
When it comes to physical endeavours there are some classic stress points that rarely, if ever, fail to materialise during experiences. Take for example, next week’s Dublin marathon. Even the most rapid ‘scan the plan’ on this undertaking shows up 4 classic psychological stress points –
- Pinches of physical fatigue in the first 5 kms due to a sub standard RTC (Ready To Compete) and nervous system activation, creating states of doubt and panic.
- Before the 21.1 kms mark. Focusing on distance markers and specifically in this case the halfway point creates a negative mental state. Why? Because we are focused on something that is not within our control.
- After the 21.1 kms mark. One again focusing on things that are outside of one’s control, i.e: how many kilometres remain – creating a negative mental state.
- 32 kms to 40 kms. The only genuine physical stress point of the 4. Where the limitations of the classic marathon prep play out and the effects of physical discomfort eat away at runner’s resolve. This can be a dark period in a marathon runners race and one exasperated by a poorly conditioned focus on the finish line.
My advice to you if you are partaking or have other marathon plans in the future is to take a short window of time the night before and the morning of, to Scan the Plan, feeling these situations arise at the points at which they are expected and seeing yourself navigate them using a mental anchor or reset you have prepared. Remember, the reset must be a statement or question that leads your mind to a specific action that is within your control. I.e – breath or effort.
Note: This is a powerful process that can be used for any situation in life that holds stressors and where your reaction could be the difference between success and failure – Job interviews, public speaking, big meetings. The key is to practice how you want to react to those stressors with a very clear understanding and vision of what your desired outcome from the event is.
Time is finite. It’s running out for us all. I try not to waste mine or other peoples; it’s just too important a resource and I endeavour to show respect for others and its importance in their lives. Therefore, I feel we should consistently audit our behaviour and where we are focusing our time, effort and energy so as to potentially identify and interrupt some misalignment and future pain.
If you are setting your sights on certain goals in your life, achieving them and getting plenty of recognition for your successes but still left with a profound discontent and/or spiritual unease when the dust settles, you need to ask yourself some questions you might not like the answer to. I implore you not to ignore, avoid or suppress that authentic feedback; it is the gateway to everything you are searching for. Summon the courage to be honest with yourself and at the very least rule out one avenue in life that you know isn’t for you.
'As long as you live, keep learning how to live'
~ Seneca
