Life Experiment #1,057:  Relax and the end result will be even better

If I had to categorize myself in the fitness world I would say I am a runner. I really enjoy it and am halfway decent.

I started doing races back in 2005 and after that first race – The Chattanooga Chase – I was hooked. Hooked because of the excitement, the challenge, and my new-found ability. If you know me you know I love to compete and I love it even more when I can compete and win. 

These past years I’ve run my share of races. They’ve mostly been local and all quite intimate, around 200-1000 participants. With intimacy comes extra (self-imposed) pressure to do well and beat out the competition.

Race mornings were always met with enormous anxiety and unease. The look on my face at any given start line was one of gloom and doom. Even into the first mile of the runs, angst would hang on tight making it hard to breath.

Everything changed this past Saturday when I ran the Crescent City Classic 10k in New Orleans with 18,000 others! Yes, 18,000!!!!

Running a race of this magnitude meant NO PRESSURE. I knew I would be up against the top runners in the world so I went out to have fun.

I cheered on runners (as I passed them ;)), I sang and gave shouts of gratitude to the street bands playing for us, and I even participated in one of the beer stops!

Guess what happened!?  I had one of the best times of my career!

Life Experiment #1,057 = Success!

Running a race with much self-imposed anxiety and pressure produces good results. Running a race relaxed, grateful, in the moment, and happy produces great results.

We create our own pressures and our own unrealistic and absurd expectations for ourselves. We create our own stresses, anxieties, and self-imposed limitations.

We get in our own way of enjoying our own life.

Where in your life’s journey are you creating your own self-imposed pressures and anxieties? Do your own experiment and see what happens.

Life’s journey is going to happen regardless; wouldn’t you rather enjoy it with less effort while also reaping great results?