A
little more than two years ago, when I had just beaten my personal record in
the Madrid Marathon, I wrote a post in which I explained some of the key
factors which had allowed me to run a distance measuring more than one stretch
around the planet.
From
then on, and although 16 years have gone by since I started to run, I haven’t
stopped learning. Each race is unique and therefore a chance to keep on
learning and know yourself a little better. In this last two marathons, for
example, I have learnt four major lessons which can be applied really easily to
the professional environment:
Confidence in oneself is
vital but it should not fall on attempting to underestimate your external
conditions or overvalue your own abilities. Because of this, flexibility and
adaptability are two fundamental ingredients when it comes to tackling
unexpected challenges (from a small lesson when preparing for our race to a
sudden change in the commercial strategy of our main competitor).
Planning and preparing
are keys to success. There are no possible shortcuts: in order to achieve our
objective and finish the race in the desired time we need a combination of
perseverance, resilience and a lot of will power. And, like in the business
world, it is really important to be impeccable in the execution and follow-up
of measurements which make up our desired performance.
Having a planned
strategy for the whole course is indispensible- we cannot just focus on the
short term. It is important to always remember what the final objective is and
to ration our energy levels for the whole of the race (or the whole of the tax
year). This will help us to overcome the well-known “wall” effect which comes
up half way through a race, or to deal with any half-year profits which aren’t
particularly brilliant.
Honesty with oneself.
Dreaming and thinking big are not big challenges but they can become dangerous
if we do not act with the right criteria. Whenever I have managed to meet my
sporting objectives there has been a strategy designed beforehand: starting
with a look at my abilities when it comes to preparation and being honest with
myself in terms of my potential to develop in the time remaining, I have come
up with some aims which, although ambitious, were sensible, along with
realistic training plans. I insist on honesty with myself because we cannot
expect miracles to happen. If something happens, it will surely impact
negatively on the expected performance: never the other way around.
And a final lesson on travel
companions. Counting on the support of your family and friends when it comes to
marathons and your colleagues in the professional world is, without a doubt,
the greatest incentive to keep going until you reach your goal. Without them,
it’s mission impossible. As an African proverb says “If you want to go fast, go
alone. If you want to go far, go accompanied”. And I like to add “accompanied
with the best people”.
Versión en español de este post
Versión en español de este post
