by Coach Mike
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” -Ferris Bueller
We are in our second month of competing now and we have been teaching how to develop your own process. At our last swim meet I had two contrasting examples of this. This swimmer who we will call Process made up index cards with the events she was scheduled to swim and little reminders to herself on what to focus on during the race. I like to refer to this as the plan. Contrast this to another swimmer who we will refer to as Outcome, was really upset after his races because he didn’t get the result he wanted. When I asked him what his plan was, he stated “I just wanted to go faster!” In turn I asked him did you do the things that you have been practicing? Outcome stated, “No…I just wanted to go faster!”
Process was focused on the process while Outcome was focused on the outcome. After speaking with Process at the end of the meet she knew where improvement could be made and how to modify her plan for the next time she raced and what to focus on during practices. After speaking with Outcome he changed the way he raced the following day and made plans for each of his races and executed them leading to an improved day of racing and now he knows what to improve upon moving forwards as well.
Moving Pebbles
- They look for a better mountain to move because this one is too difficult.
- They look over at everyone else’s mountain and start comparing and second guessing should I even be spending my time on this, their mountain looks so much better, FOMO.
- They try to move too much at once when they are not ready because it isn’t happening fast enough and quit or hurt themselves.
- They just start hurtling stones because they fixate on “I have to move the mountain” and when they are done the mountain may have been moved but look at the mess, they made.
- They stand there looking at the stones wondering which one is the best one to move first because they don’t want to make the wrong choice, and nothing gets moved.
There is a saying that I like to keep in mind when things get complicated in life, it is…
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Einstein stated once; “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
How I look at what Confucius stated, is to start small by moving the smallest pebble you can find. It may seem insignificant now and you may question how will I ever get this mountain moved? Remember that by starting with that one pebble you have begun. Moving that one pebble is easy and you will go back and grab another and another. Now you have started to build the habit necessary to move the mountain. As you progress, you start taking bigger stones and rocks because you have gained the strength to do so. With momentum you start to see the mountain moving and you don’t look at what other people are doing because you see your progress. Because you started small you learn from your experience and pick up so many more skills like the most efficient way to carry bigger and bigger loads, you develop relationships, processes to move everything better, all because you started by moving one pebble at a time. Since you have developed the habit of moving pebbles, even when you come across something bigger than you can currently handle you break it down into pebbles once again allowing yourself to keep moving forward and learning from each pebble.
This goes back to the swimmer we called Process. Her events are the mountains and practice are her pebbles, while the notecards are her reminders on what she has learned thus far to keep her focused on her own mountain.
Next time you see a mountain you want to move, look at the pebble at your feet and pick it up.
What mountain are you looking to move today?
