I was listening to Do Hard Things: The New Science of Real Toughness by Steve Magness yesterday and he shared a great story about one of his track athletes. She had become physically sick before a race, which had created some anxiety about races in general, and ultimately morphed into a pre-race habit. The habit of vomiting before races then created more anxiety and you can see how this vicious cycle was unwillingly created, right?

Magness asked a friend for help. He recommended “flipping the script.” It was all about control, or lack thereof, and if he could give her back control then the pre-race vomiting might stop. But the question was, “How?” When she came to Magness before the next race and told him that she thought she was going to be sick, he said, “Excellent!” which surprised her. He went on, “When would you like to do it? The race is at 10 am?” She was so surprised by his response, but she gave it some thought and replied, “9:45, I guess?” Magness, again, was enthusiastic and said, “Perfect, I’ll set an alarm on my watch and come get you then.” At 9:45 he met the track star and said, “OK, it’s time. Let’s go,” but the funny thing was, she no longer felt sick. And she went on to run her best race ever AND never vomited before a race again. Hmm. Does control change everything?

Where, in your personal or professional life, do you feel like you don’t have any control? It’s probably something that has elicited feelings of anger, fear, stress, or grief. Awareness is the first big step. Once we can put our finger on it, and define it as something we feel like we don’t have control over, then we can begin to “flip the script.” The next question is, “What do we have control over?” As soon as we realize what we DO have control over (you might need to grab a friend for this part if you can’t come up with much), that’s when everything starts to change. Everything!

Let’s GO! WE GOT THIS!
Beth
P.S. “Do Hard Things,” is a great book!! I’m half way through and loving it.