A while back, in March 2020, I determined to run more. Running is something that I do quite slowly but it is something that I enjoy as I feel renewed when I get back home.
Quite early on, probably a month or two later and whilst out running, I had a conversation with a near neighbour called John and it went like this:
John: So you’re a regular runner then?
Me: Not really, just jogging along.
John: I used to be English X Country Champion
Me: That’s great, Champion of England. I just love to run but quite often stop for chats and to admire the view.
John: You’ll never achieve much then.
That conversation made me think about how we measure our lives, what measures we, or others judging us, apply to signify our success. How others may not apply or even be aware of the context of what you are doing.
Quite often the measure is applied so that someone else’s rules of success are applied to our life. This can mean that our success appears limited when in fact we have achieved great levels of success.
Measurement of our life has to take into account the context of our situation, something that is ignored if we apply someone else’s rules of achievement.
Let me give you two examples from swimming, which is my favourite sport.
First: through this pandemic, when the pools are open, I have been teaching swimming to children.
One day a young man, aged 10, arrived in my class and I noticed that he had been stuck at a level for nearly 2 years. I also noted that he had a medical issue which meant he would never swim breast stroke or butterfly or do tumble turns.
SwimEngland, who govern swimming in England, demand that certain skills have to be performed to a regulatory standard before a swimmer can progress to higher levels. What this means is that any swimmer who cannot swim all four strokes to the required standard of Swim England will not be signed off as being a competent swimmer.
This was the problem for the young man, he had reached a dead end. If I didn’t do something he would give up swimming and probably never return, which is a shame because he swims front crawl and backstroke beautifully. So I designed a swimming programme for him that focusses on his strengths, allowing him to see a natural progression in his swimming and allowing his good strokes become even better.
Remember other people’s rules can hold you back.
Second: Ross Edgley who swam around the British Isles in 2018, who subsequently wrote a book about the Art of Resilience, was told when investigating the possibility of the British Isles swim that he did not have the shape or physique for swimming. He still went on and completed the 1,780 mile swim without setting foot on land.
You might ask how he managed this, if he didn’t have the shape or physique for swimming? Well, the judgement was being made using the required shape for a swimmer racing down a pool at the Olympic Games.
Remember other people don’t look at the context.
We must create our own measurement for our own lives. We cannot allow the imposition of someone else’s measure, the way someone else wants us to be. They have no understanding of what we are working towards.
Whether it be in sport, work or life generally, we cannot let some one else determine how we view our success. Yes, we have rules in our society that we must keep but when it comes down to who and what we are, never let the energy sappers and mood hoovers drag you down to their level.
Remember:
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus by William Henley
This has to be a guide for us all.
Back to running: as I was leaving John I turned and asked:
“Do you still run John?”
His reply: “I can’t my knees are knackered.”
As I ran off across the field I sensed a look of envy, for after all I was the one still running and whilst I may not achieve much in my running and whilst I may often stop, stand and stare John was running nowhere.