Will it make the boat go faster?

If a situation or what someone says hits home or strikes home, people accept that it is real or true, even though it may be painful for them to realize. That said, the same applies when reading and when you come across a topic that just smacks you in the face, it’s hard not to jump up and down and get excited about it. Recently, I was reading “The Spartan Way”, Principle #5 and BOOM, “will it make the boat go faster” jumped out and hit home big time and I knew I needed to share this with my community.

In simplest terms, this was all about knowing, finding and marching towards your True North! Joe states that in order to achieve his Spartan mission, he needed to be selfish and frugal with his time and energy. Joe states “does this choice take me closer to my True North or further away from it”? That is the question we should be asking ourselves each and every day with everything we do. It’s important that we become more self-aware and focused on those actions to get us on our way.

Furthermore, Joe shares a great story about an Olympic row team, the British who took near last in the 1996 games but won gold four years later. How did this happen? It was the simple question they asked themselves each and every day “will it make the boat go faster”, so everything they did from training to their daily life, the questions always centered around would this make the boat go faster. The got themselves in the right mind set and focus to achieve gold!

The questions they asked themselves: for example

·     Will extra training make the boat go faster? YES

·     Will putting more time on the rowing machine each day make the boat go faster? YES

·     Will partying on the weekend make the boat go faster? NO

See the point yet? Each and every day they asked themselves these questions to ensure they stayed true to their north. I encourage you all to learn more about this great achievement at the Olympic games, but I beg you all to take the same approach to finding and sticking to your true north. Remember, every decision you make will impact your path forward, so ask yourself how this will impact me today!

In closing, whatever your goals, mission, purpose or True North may be, it’s important to have self-discipline and self-control over yourself in order to achieve your goals or targets in everything we do. If you want to get in better shape, land a dream job, run your first spartan race or be a better parent, you need to make the day to day decisions as such outlined in Joe’s book “The Spartan Way” under principle #5. Go strong my friends and find that True North!

*I credit this article to Joe De Sena and his book "The Spartan Way"*

https://race.spartan.com/en/race/learn-more/race-types-overview?article=the-spartan-way-book