Our Tour de France starts in five days. On the Peloton bike, a group of nut cases will, of their on volition, put themselves into acute pain. I’m not looking forward to putting a hurt on myself but I’m doing it because I understand this is the only way toward small, iterative gains. For 23 days, I’m signing up to stretch myself beyond perceived limits. I know there will be many fails and not much glory. I know that next to nobody cares. I know that I do.
Today, I witnessed two teams putting themselves into acute pain. You could see, easily, who knew why they were doing what they were doing and who was counting down the time till it was over. Excellence, Aristotle was right, is a habit. Make it a habit to do some hard things. Make it a habit to become less soft. Make it a habit to live hard and love harder.
Pick a target. Reach. Fail. Pick another target. Reach. Fail. Pick another target. Reach. Grasp hold. Pick a harder target. Rinse and repeat. This is the recipe for deliberate practice. Excellence is habituated here. What hard thing could you do if you had an “En brera” mindset? Our Tour starts in five. God, help me push through the pain. God, help me…
