An Olympic lesson in persistence
John Stephen Akhari was on the cusp of greatness.
He was living his lifelong dream – representing his country in the Olympics as a long-distance runner.
On the day of the big race, he lined up next to his opponents.
The gun went off, and John started to move. But something unexpected happened….
For the first time in his life, John felt his body start to cramp up.
You see, John was from Tanzania. But this year, the Olympics were in Mexico City – a much higher altitude than what he had trained for.
His body started to cramp. But John kept running.
Later, as the runners started to jockey for position, he collided with another runner. He fell, badly wounding his knee.
What would he do? Quit? Stop and let his emotions overwhelm him?
John got patched up. He rose to his feet. He looked up at the road, with tears in his eyes. But he refused to let his emotions overtake him.
When interviewed later and asked why he continued running, he said, "My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.
In life, everyone – even top performers – will experience a “crash” at some point. It’s called “the discipline dip”.
Maybe you’ve lost “the feeling” that got you where you are. Maybe you’ve found yourself feeling burned out. Or maybe you’re just being pulled in too many different directions.
In the latest episode of The Peak Performers Playbook, we talk about how to identify your discipline dip – and the three essential pieces for moving past it:
- The power of refocusing your daily habits & rituals
- Having a system for days when you don’t “feel like it”
- The power of partnership
