Marathon Success!

Posted: February 16, 2012 at 7:56 am

This post was written by Mr Bullyproof

I completed the marathon in under 4 hours 45mins. For me, this was a psychological experiment. I did no physical training beforehand. I regularly encourage my clients to change their beliefs about themselves and I had to change a lot of my own beliefs about me for this task to be successful.

Here’s what I did:

Firstly, I considered what are my current beliefs were:

1. I am unfit
2. I am not a runner
3. I am overweight
4. I don’t have any stamina
5. My legs aren’t used to running
6. 26.2 miles is an incredibly long way
7. I don’t know if I can do this

Of course, these beliefs were all true. What’s important is to realise they are also not very useful beliefs to hold in preparation of a marathon. I needed to think up useful beliefs that I don’t necessarly believe yet. i.e. What would I need to believe in order to achieve this task?

1. This is not a physical task, it is a mental one.
2. I can change my own beliefs about myself easily.
3. I know I can do this.
4. People’s bodies are incredibly resiliant. In marathons their minds usually give out first.

Notice that ‘just believing’ I can run a marathon isn’t enough. Believing you can fly doesn’t make it true. I see beliefs as tools which help us to see the world around us in a unique way. Change your beliefs and you change your perspective on the world. Here’s how I changed one of my beliefs:

I asked myself if I thought I could walk 26 miles? I decided yes. I have been on hill walks in the past that have lasted all day so walking on a flat course would be easy. At 3mph walking pace a marathon would take less than 9 hours. This seems feasible so I now believe I can walk a marathon. I know that the body uses up just as many calories walking a mile as it does running a mile. So running a marathon uses up just as much energy as walking one. Because I have already convinced myself I can walk a marathon I now believe I have enough energy to run one.

When I have a client who believes ‘they are worthless’, I ask: ‘worth less than what?’ Forcing them to quantify their worth seems irrational to them and is the first stage in destroying that belief. Asking them to see themselves from a new perspective, by adding new ‘mini-beliefs’ is a quick way to give them a massive increase in self-worth and therefore, self-esteem.

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