Motivational books are usually worthless to me. Chock full of inspirational tales that are mostly luck, chance or coincidence, it’s hard to get behind them.
Born To Run is not one of THOSE books. It’s motivational, but I’m pretty sure it was never meant to be.
Sure, it’s about running, but not in the way you think. One tangent of the story explains how running shoes are actually CAUSING more injuries than they prevent. Our feet search for hard surfaces during landings, and too much cushioning prevents that. The book explains that gymnasts land HARDER on softer surfaces than they do less-padded ones, which does seem to make much sense.
The lesson is, the more we put between ourselves and what we’re really trying to do, the more risk we put ourselves in for screwing up.
When’s the last time you picked up a phone or met a client for coffee? How much emphasis on you placing on fairly impersonal, electronic communication? Pretty easy to lose something in translation.
How many good conversations are truncated by the abruptness of Twitter or text messages? Try getting coffee.
How often are client processes convoluted with arbitrary deadlines, unnecessary paperwork and outdated methods? Streamline. Not everything requires a 10-page NDA.
What good are networking meetings where nothing is actually accomplished? Try individual meetings in quieter places.
Look at what you’re doing. Find out what’s unnecessary. Improve your form.
You’ll thank yourself for it.
