Diligence

As I complete my training hours day in, and day out, I think about stuff. Mostly the brain rambles but recently it keeps circling back to the same concept.

Diligence.

If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.
- Samuel Johnson

It’s my favorite word right now. It’s also a concept that I am working on. After all, you are what you repeatedly do, and so you are what you are diligent about. But sometimes I get emotional. I like things to be new and exciting. I’m not a creature of habit AT ALL. I thrive on change, and adversity. I like to tell my blog readers about wild adventures.

But the extremely successful athletes are masters at diligence. They know how to set out a plan, or pay for someone to set up their plan, and then they execute. Diligently. They make the time every day to hit their workouts, stock the fridge with the proper nutrition, get to bed on time, keep their equipment in excellent shape, pack their bags for he next days workouts, log their training, balance their budgets. These are all acts of thorough diligence.

I recently watched Spirit of the marathon and was reminded that Deena Kastor was injured for several weeks before she won the Chicago Marathon in ‘05, but she was diligent, and maintained a great attitude throughout. I’m reading Born To Run right now and McDougall talks about Deena’s coach, Joe Vigil and how he formulated his opinions on developing self as well as athletic prowess (Practice abundance by giving back, improve personal relationships, show integrity to your value system).

Self, and character are very important things. As the saying goes “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for everything”. Having a strong sense of self, and strong character traits, will always pay hefty rewards. Be diligent, be honest, be kind, and always act with integrity.

I have a few friends (Gaye and PIC) who I consider to be extremely diligent athletes. They are both adventurous, but more than the adventures they tackle, they are diligent. They follow the plan, whatever the plan may be. They just know how to hit their schedule day in and day out. They make the time and space to succeed. I assume that they also wash their face, brush their teeth, and floss every single night before bed. Diligence is as diligence does.

I often try to find a way to get the work in while maintaining strong family relationships. The family that plays together, stays together.

I’ve recently started with a new advisor. I’ve followed his blog for years, and when I contacted him about coaching, I knew that if he would agree to guide me, that I was a lucky girl. He’s a big deal, who coaches big deals, and well, its clear that he’s good. It was a bit of a long shot, he could have cost like $1000 a month, or have said “no” to the random girl(s) from Colorado.

The thing is, I get my first week of directions and I feel like I have something special in my hands, and it’s merely the beginning. It feels right for me, and I want nothing more than to be the most diligent that I can be with the work he has set forth. The work will work. I can tell. But I must provide the diligence. We all know I have the passion.

Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.
-Buddha