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On 21st Feb, 2016, I completed my first Olympic format triathlon at a competition in Goa – 1.5 kms of swimming ,40 kms of cycling and 10 kms of running in 4 hours and 15 minutes.
I would like to share three of my powerful experiences of before, during and after the triathlon, which transformed the way I look at running my business – Monachem.
Here are my 3 powerful experiences :
1) Remaining focussed towards the end goal.
When I enrolled for the triathlon three months back , I did not know how I was going to complete it. But I registered with a stand of living my life powerfully and with an end goal of “completing it” and not “competing with others”.
Before and during the triathlon, I got tempted into competing when I saw other participants talking about “finishing it within a time frame”. But I retained my focus on my end goal of “completion” & not “competing”.
The business lesson which I have implemented from this experience is “I will always have a clear vision for the end goal / destination ( short term and long term) for my business & remained focussed on my path of the end goal and not get distracted or change the goal just for competing with others.
2) Dealing with my fear of unknown.
Before the triathlon there were few of my “unknown fears” running in mind like :
”What if I fail to complete it?
what if I cannot complete the 1.5 kms swim in the open waters ? ( I had not practised swimming in a pool since a year so swimming in an ocean was a daunting / fearful task for me )
With this fears running in my mind, I was not able to “be in the present” in other areas of my life like business and family.
So, I took action of :
accepted the fear rather than resisting it
shared this fear with my near and dear ones – my family and friends.
declared the possibility of experiencing this feeling as an “adventure” rather than an unknown fear.
With these actions, I converted my negative emotions of “unknown fear” and “not being in present” into a positive powerful feeling & this helped to achieve completion of triathlon.
I have started to apply this into my business. I experience the volatility and unknown in the business for reaching a goal as an “adventure” & not as “unknown fear” which makes me feel powerful and excited to give my best everyday in business.
3) Endurance in running a business
I had finished my 1.5 kms swim and finished my 40 kms cycling at around 10.20 am, parked my cycle and started running with an excitement of finishing & completing the last leg of the triathlon – the 10 kms run.
As soon as I started running, my mind started shouting with following stories & encouraged me to quit :
”finishing 10 kms in the heat of around 30 degree is a tough one & plus with my body being exhausted already, there is a possibility of the heat harming me physically”
it’s ok if am not able to finish the triathlon but I cannot afford to harm my body.
All the above stories running in my mind tried its best to demotivate me & give up.
At this point of time, I took following 3 actions in my mind :
I accepted the negative stories running in my mind rather than avoiding it
I shared with myself that these are just my mind stories and nothing to worry about.
I declared the possibility in my mind of focussing on finishing shorter goals of 500 meters each. I declared to myself that I will consider the option of exiting if required after accomplishing each 500 meters goal” rather than thinking of “10 long tough kms”.
With the above powerful action in my mind , I started accomplishing multiple 500 meters goals & eventually completed 10 kms run.
For the last 500 meters, where my mind wes shouting to give up, I visualized the “Finish” poster and kept on going.
I finally finished my 10 kms run and crossed the finish line with the organizers cheering and clapping.
Earlier in my daily working in business, I would listen to my unknown fear of “whether the next 5 year company vision and goal is possible to achieve” & experience a weak feeling of giving up.
Today, to keep myself going in my business for achieving the ambitious long term Monachem Vision 2020, I have started living by taking powerful actions on daily basis by focussing on daily goals.
I have split the 5 year goal into yearly , monthly, weekly and daily goals.
This makes me feel powerful as I remain motivated in achieving smaller goals ( my 500 Meters ) with the long term 5 year goal (10 kms) in mind . It has made my working style more powerful on daily basis.
Thanks for listening to my triathlon experience which has transformed me in the area of “dealing with my business goals”.
I would be keen to listen to your experience of reading my blog.
Please share comments below the blog or drop me a message.
Cheers,
Shamik