Life of Potential, Boundaries, and Trail Running

Our personal and professional ability to get everything out of us and leave it to the “field of play“ as Todd Herman likes to say.

It is the arena of our performance where we show up daily, being our workplace, home, or any other pursuit in which we are engaged.

How can we make sure that nothing was left in the tank, no stone unturned and we did it in relation to our potential?

This question is the one that I still ask myself often. And no, “doing my best" is something just not enough…

Let me explain, there have been days where I have given my best efforts in the #coaching and Training field or personally on the trails running up the mountain faces here in Tahiti, yet at the end of the day feeling that I could have been so much better.

Trail running lesson

Running can serve as a fitting example in this case. My cardiovascular abilities to run used to be a lot higher than the conditioning of my knees and ankles.

Meaning that the?Foundation, being my legs, in this case, reached their #potential a lot sooner than my lungs and cardiovascular condition. Hence the reason I was left feeling not reaching or coming even close to my potential.

This obviously begs a question of how important preparation and having a solid foundation in place are.

In my case, I had to strengthen my ankles and knees to bear a load of longer trail runs, which by the way is quite different from regular running on the roadside.

Also, when we start to push the run upwards of the 2-hour mark, supplementation, correct hydration, and gear all start to play important roles.

The point is that if we are to pursue our potential and find out more about what we are made of, just doing our best without a proper strategy in place might not just be enough.

We need to be ready and prepared. Many people tell you that just do your best and that’s enough yet forget that what we do days and hours before our efforts truly matter for the outcome.

And by the way, just as you might have already picked up the point, this idea of pursuing our potential and preparation obviously reaches a lot further than just trail running and sports.

We can use these same principles in business, relationships, and our own personal development.

Talking about Principles,

If the Potential is a Macro Principle that we are pursuing then what are the foundational micro habits that need to be in place so that we can even start to have this conversation about reaching our (full) Potential?

(Idea paraphrased from John Waitzskin)

Barriers and Boundaries

I used to think that if I just push myself harder, I will find those edges of my performance and potential. Whereas that can at times be true I think we need to be more strategic about this and look at potential from different perspectives.

Yes, these physical pursuits like trail running allow us to realize those barriers faster than let’s say in a regular office environment. Hence, for anyone who wants to reach higher and find out more about how far one’s potential might be, anything and everything that allows us to come in contact with those boundaries faster is a good starting point.

One of the biggest lessons that sports and competitive pursuits have taught me is the notion of knowing where my guard rails are. When we transfer this knowledge into let’s say entrepreneurship, the ones who lack boundaries are bound to experience burnout(s).

We need to know when to slow down and when to speed up in relation to our physical condition. Sports definitely taught me these lessons.

Nowadays I have this almost automatic “shut-off valve" that tells me to slow down if my internal engine is starting to heat up too much. Because when we lack this ability to listen to our internal gauges that are in red and still keep pushing forwards, well, many have experienced the symptoms of that.

Do push your boundaries and expand your potential further and further. Yet let’s do it sustainably and from the inside out instead of launching completely outside of those boundaries.

Here is my digitally handwritten illustration of the sustainable way to expand our Potential!

To wrap up this little article I wanted to acknowledge a good friend of mine and ultra-runner RJ Singh who said this about our Potential:

“The strength of my Potential will be measured in the work I put in Today “

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Enjoy your Pursuits,

Tuomo Vauhkonen

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