Over the past few days I been having conversations with different people on priorities. What to do. What not to do. Not just in triathlon but in life. Then I came to the realization that everything comes down to balance. The one who balances things the best wins. Ok win may not be the right word since it is not all about wining. But perhaps survive an adventure, live a happier life or become the best triathlete they can be.
Mark Allen was not the fastest swimmer, not runner not biker but when it came to putting it all together he was the best. That is balance I think. I mentioned to Mark that I was not great at anything but good at many. He said I was a great programmer. Nah, when I was at IBM there were plenty of programmers that were better than me. But the best programmers are usually not very good at other things. But our coaching business is more than a program. There are graphics, database, merchant services, pricing support and coaching.
Life is also the same. There are relationship issues, parenting issues, fitness and health issues, money issues, pet issues etc. It all adds up to a life. So perhaps we are not the best parents, or richest persons, or fittest athletes, but if we can find a nice balance among all of them and prioritize well then we can say we live a good life.
As I coach people that have a weak leg in triathlon I always tell them my school analogy. In school I did not like grammar or reading but I loved numbers. So when it came time to do homework I always did all the math homework which many times left my grammar or reading homework undone. I created an unbalanced school situation and it reflected on my grades. The same thing can be said about triathlon. If you really like swimming you will seldom miss a session. Yet if you do not like swimming you will skip it at the first sign of conflict. The unbalanced situation will be created and you will be seeing less and less people at T1. Then when you look at your results you may say “If I could only improve my swim”. Balancing may help.
Now I am not saying we all have to be balanced. All we have to do is realize it and stop complaining when our swim leg is slow, or the grade in English was not good , or our bank account does not have much money. Ultimately we choose our priorities. If that one thing is super annoying then change the priorities and put more time and effort into it. Just don’t get in the cycle of always wanting everything perfect as that may not be realistic. We all have to give up some to get some.
Ok what about the picture above? Where and who? If you are a friend of mine in facebook you may know.