An Even Keel

MUSINGS FROM A COACH - 8 OCTOBER '24

Jennifer and I recently watched Apple Music's "Coldplay: The Moon Music Interview with Zane Lowe | Apple Music" on YouTube and found the interviews super interesting and entertaining. When Zane interviews Chris Martin - lead singer, and who I want to come back as in my next life - he talked about success and failure in the form of fans and critics.

When Zane complimented Chris on how many people love Coldplay and how many critics have given the band accolades, Chris immediately shot back saying that just as many people and critics disliked the band. He said that with every praise there was an equally, enthusiastic critique. He said that understanding and accepting this has allowed him not to get to emotionally high and not too low, but rather keep an even keel.

Of course, I thought immediately of athletes training and racing in endurance sports. Surprise!

Will power, motivation, tenacity and belief in oneself all require many traits from an athlete. One of them is an ego. While too much ego is an impediment to progress, too little is as well. So expecting that we will always have a "great" training session or a "great" race is merely the ego taking too much control of our emotions. But continuing to strive for perfection can be a good catalyst for growth.

It's a tough balance and something I chat with all athletes and coaches about. We have to have a little of the "never satisfied" mindset while acknowledging reality, things we cannot control and the real existence of that "balance" that Chris was talking about. Certainly, the athlete who finds joy in the daily training of the sport will most likely perform better and stay in it longer.

More often than not, those athletes finding joy learn that the highs are balanced by the lows, and that's OK. Always looking for improvement while still acknowledging success is key. It's the old analogy of "waves" that I've written in the past about. So much of our world is in the form of waves: sound waves, light waves, etc. So is our daily successes and failures.

One last comment that is not directly related to this:

Don't forget perspective. If we view life through the lens that highlights the positive more than the negative, our perspective starts to shape our mental well-being. And that well-being is a good one.

Gratefully,   

Mark CEO Team MPI