Business as usual

I’ve been running long distance for over 10 years. Sometimes, I find it difficult to motivate myself to not only get out on the trail, but to increase my speed or distance. I’m hard on myself. I wonder why it is that I can’t find motivation.

I think there are a few things impeding me: First, I don’t have a firm goal, and second, I’m expecting to get better despite not changing anything in my environment.

“The first step toward enhancing performance in an organization is realizing that improvement is possible only if participants abandon business-as-usual practices” (Ericsson & Pool 2016, p. 121).

What would happen if I took a different trail or listened to a different playlist? What if I ate more during the day or purposefully slept in?

As a coach, I think my job is to push people to realize change doesn’t just “happen,”—you create opportunities for change when you are willing to alter your normal practices.

How much do you have to change in order to make a difference?

In order to know what is effective, people may have to change slowly. Changing too many constants at one time will never confirm the variable that was keeping you from improving. It’s worthwhile to go through an Immunity Map process to identify things that are holding you back from changing and identifying the greatest contributors.

Start there. What happens? Tweak, reassess, and try again.

Ericsson, A., & Pool, R. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.