Where are you 13 minutes behind the other runners? Thursday we are releasing my interview with friend and world champion Siri Lindley. In that podcast she tells an amazing story of how she completely changed the outcome for one of her champion athletes in a key moment of a high stakes race.
This story blew my mind, and I saw how it could be an accelerant to an exercise I do called “Stacking the Evidence”. That your goals are closer than you think, you just need to talk back to your brain and show it how.
Let me start by recapping the story from Siri’s interview.
Siri was talking about how, after being at the absolute pinnacle of success, she was training other world class athletes to achieve remarkable performance.
She tells this amazing story of how she is training this athlete, that’s pretty far into the race. She is done with her swim and her bike ride and the only piece left in the triathlon is the run. And this athlete is struggling. Her times are BAD. She has not done the first two events fast enough, and making up the time in the run is nearly impossible.
Her athlete gets off the bike, preparing for the run- and she’s pissed.
She is 13 and ½ minutes behind the other athletes. And at this elite level, it’s lights out. Game over.
She’s kicking her own ass. The race is lost.
Siri is on the racecourse with her, coaching her.
Siri thinks- what can I say to this athlete to get her out of this negative headspace? If she stays in this headspace then surely the race is lost.
What could I possibly say to push her- to inspire her to still give it her all?
And then she thinks of it.
Siri yells:
“You are in the perfect position!”
The athlete is 13 minutes behind, which at this level is a mortal blow.
So the athlete looks at Siri like- “What are you talking about? Are you watching the same race? I’m way behind!”
But Siri keeps coaching her—“You are in THE PERFECT POSITION!”
Then something remarkable starts to happen.
The athletes starts to get curious.
How could my coach think I’m in the perfect position?
What about this is perfect?
What is she doing?
She’s starting to stack the evidence for a positive narrative.
The negative one is apparent. She’s behind, no one ever makes up that much time.
But Siri saying you are in the perfect position- invited curiosity.
The athlete reached for the evidence. Well maybe I do have some things in my favor? And she begun to stack the evidence.
For example:
1- Not pushing as hard on the bike, means my legs are stronger for the run. Okay – that’s a good position
She ran a little faster.
2- And now that I think about it, I have usually done my best races when I’m coming up behind people, I really like to pass people.
She ran a little faster.
And the athlete kept stacking the evidence. She kept stacking the evidence on how her coach thought she was in a perfect position.
Now the facts of the races didn’t change. But her mindset about the race completely changed.
Did it matter in the end?
The athlete ended up catching EVERY SINGLE RUNNER on the course that day.
She won the world championship and broke the run course record for the Ironman World Championships!
So yes- it mattered. In fact it made ALL THE DIFFERENCE.
It would have been so easy to stack the evidence to the contrary. There was plenty of evidence in the moment that she was in a terrible position. But she was able to reframe it in a split second.
Here is what we all have in common with the athlete.
We also feel behind.
What is area in your life you feel 13 minutes behind all the other runners? Like you’re at a disadvantage and there is no way you can make up the time?
We all have those areas. Maybe it’s in your business- you should be farther along than you are.
Hell just this morning I had one of my amazing mastermind clients David sit down with another client because she felt like she was “behind in planning for her retirement.” Like she was never going to make up the lost time.
We all have an area in our lives where we feel like we are behind the other runners.
And our brain is happy to jump on that train. “You are right! There is no point in even trying.
What if we flipped that shitty narrative on its head? What if we started to hear Siri’s words- “YOU ARE IN THE PERFECT POSITION!”
How am I in the perfect position? Are may legs strong because I saved myself strength on the bike?
Am I ready to pull the trigger on my retirement account – since I spent 10 exhaustive years researching the snot out of what to do next?
Am I in the perfect position for the promotion- because I’ve developed all the skills the company could possibly want me to have while I waited around for that promotion?
Yes- this is the mental gymnastics I talk about in my podcast. This is getting leverage on yourself. Having control over your own narrative. Not your parents, not your spouse, not the news or social media.
You have control over your internal narrative – and it’s POWERFUL.
Do this. Ask yourself, where have I felt I was at a disadvantage, but I could reframe it that I’m in the perfect position? Where do I feel 13 minutes behind the other runners- and what am I prepared to do about it?
Now do it. Execute. Imperfectly. Sloppy. Perfect execution is delayed execution. Growth is an iterative process not a perfect process.
If you have questions- reach out. This is my bag baby!
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#theaprilgarcia #sirilindley #pivotme #businessowner #mindset #resetyourmindset #tonyrobbins #upw #unleashthepowerwithin
