What’s Your Power Phrase
At the time of this post I am listening to the e-book “Unbeatable Mind” by Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine for the 3rdtime. I like to revisit this every year to refresh my memory on the lessons it teaches. A few weeks ago I was talking to a good friend and he was telling me that a buddy told him DO NOT collapse at the finish line after your race no matter how hard you ran or how bad it hurts. Doing so can signal to your brain/muscles/etc. that you just gave 100% and couldn’t possibly go any harder and that isn’t true, you’ve got more to give. Commander Divine calls this your 20X factor, or the 40% rule, meaning that you are capable of 20 times more than you think you are, or when you think you’ve reached your limit, you’re really only 40% maxed out. Your “central governor” aka your brain is telling your muscles to shut down, but you have the power to override that “need”/desire to shut down and keep pushing, or in this case standing. Therein lies your Power Phrase.
Every Monday I run 800-meter speed intervals at a local track. If you have ever ran 800’s you know how bad they suck. This last Monday I was physically & mentally tired from a hard training week and still sore from a brutal workout the Friday before. My body hurt, my legs felt heavy, and I had accepted the fact that this session probably wasn’t going to be “stellar”. After a 1 mile warm-up run followed by the first 2 of 4×800’s I was coming back to life. I don’t listen to music when I run these sessions because I want to be 100% connected with my body, mind, and breath. If I take myself out of the present moment with music and don’t learn to deal with the pain and discomfort in training, how the hell do I expect myself to push my hardest during a race? So I am right in the middle of my 3rd800m interval when it hit me. I had my mental anchor set, I was focused on my breath, I looked down at my watch to see my pace and my mantra “power phrase” immediately became “I’ve got more, I’ve got more”. I continue to repeat this phrase as I run and I see my pace get faster.. 6:04 pace – 6:00 pace – 5:55 pace – 5:50 pace. Then immediately after crossing the 800m line, instead of stopping and putting my hands on my knees/head, or dropping to the ground, I turn around, pull my shoulders back, lift my chin, and start declaring out loud “I’ve got more! I’ve got more” as I walk back to the start line with confidence. I still have one more interval to run.
Two weeks prior to this session my fastest 800m interval was at a 6:17 pace. I had just beaten that by 27 seconds with a 5:50 average and now, armed with my new power phrase I am determined to go harder. Time to go!! I try not to look at my watch pace too early during an interval because I want to learn to “feel” my pace. So with 300m left to go in my last set I look down at my watch… 5:55 pace – 5:50 pace – 5:45 pace – 5:40 pace.. I crossed the line, my lungs were on fire, my legs were jell-o, and I immediately turned around, lifted my chin, pulled back my shoulders and began to declare out loud again “I’ve got more, I’ve got more”. Last 800m pace was 5:47. I had just beat my time from two weeks prior by 30 seconds! However my session wasn’t over, I still had a 1-mile tempo run to go. The last session my mile pace was 6:57, so armed once again with my mental anchor and my power phrase I take off, every 100m repeating to myself “I’ve got more, I’ve got more”. Time to beat 6:57… My time for this mile, 6:37, a 20 second improvement! Side note: I don’t know what the hell is up with all the 7’s in my times J, kinda cool though…
The lesson in my story is that you do, in fact, always have more to give. That doesn’t mean it isn’t hard, or the pain goes away, you simply shift your mindset to being powerful and strong with your own unique power phrase. It can be anything that speaks to you. It can be one word, or it can be 10+ words. You can apply your power phrase to any physical activity. You can apply the same, similar, or different power phrase to any stressful/hard/challenging situation in life, work, or relationships. Regardless of the scenario create a mantra or “power phrase” that will give you the confidence and mental resilience to not collapse at your own physical or personal finish line, rather you will stand tall and lift your chin, because just like me YOU’ve got more…