“The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.”
Marcus Aurelius
As triathletes, we have quite a few training tasks to juggle within a given week or month. From prepping our meals to prepping our equipment, we have things that are within our control to manage and care for. The self-discipline needed to continue training week-in and week-out is significant. Throughout the majority of our progression as athletes we have little that is outside of our control. But how much do we value things that are outside our control?
If someone passes us in a race, do we get emotional about it? If someone is running faster than us on the trail, do we try to catch up to them simply to appease our ego? Marcus Aurelius’ quote above is written to himself. He wrote these things so that he would remind himself of the tendency we all share. We all tend to value what is truly outside of our control. It is a constant fight to not compare ourselves to others. When we see our friends or other amateurs in our age group getting fantastic times, we can tend to place a value those times. But, isn’t it better to focus on our own progress. Our progress is within our control.
It may also be a struggle for us to resist getting the newest and best equipment for our bike. Maybe this equipment will help us get a faster time. But have we first considered the things we can do now without the new equipment that will help us get that faster time?
This process of questioning what we value can be uncomfortable. But did we become triathletes to be comfortable?
I hope Emperor Aurelius’ words are as beneficial for you as they are to me. I hope we all gain greater control of our training and our performance.
Make today awesome!
Tres