Subtitle:
Redefining Toughness (Introductory Mini-Blog)
Introduction, PART ONE: Chapters 1-5
Posted on August 27th, 2022
By Olivia Baker
What is the first image that comes to mind when you
think of toughness? Is it the big screen action hero from your generation—maybe
Chuck Norris, Vin Diesel, or Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson? Perhaps it's your
favorite star of a high contact sport—Mike Tyson, Ronda Rousey, Aaron Donald?
Could it be a fictional superhero (or villain)—The Hulk, Superman, Thor? The
image of all of these people and characters that exists in the public eye
perpetuates a definition of toughness that revolves around brute strength,
fearing nothing, showing little emotional reaction, and hiding all signs of
vulnerability and is overwhelmingly tied to masculinity and machismo as well. However,
in his introduction, Magness claims that we have it all wrong and that this definition
confuses the appearance of toughness with the actual possession of it (pg#22). In his view, real toughness involves leaning into discomfort and all that comes with it and creating space to take thoughtful action (pg#28).
In the same way that reimagining the definition of
words like "grit" and "outlier" throughout the course of this year has given us
a new perspective and made us think twice about the way we view the world; I
think that this book has the potential to do the same with our definition of "toughness".
Plus, Steve Magness is an author who has may ties to the track and field world
both as an athlete (formerly) and as a coach (currently) of collegiate and
Olympic level athletes, so I expect many of his anecdotes to be relatable to
the running community. In all, I chose this book because I believe that the
perspective shared here will be fascinating but also challenge the viewpoint of
most readers in some regard leaving us with a scintillating discussion and practical
take home advice to accomplish our greatest ambitions.
Discussion Questions:
1. What
is the first image that comes to your mind when you think of "toughness" (be
honest!)?
2. As
you read the introduction and reflect on what toughness means to you beyond that
initial image, who comes to mind?
Subtitle: On
Confidence, Mini-blog #1
PART TWO: Chapters 6 & 7
Posted on September 6th, 2022
By Olivia Baker
From where do you derive your confidence? I asked myself
this question a lot in 2021 as I struggled through one of the worst years of my
professional running career. The answer certainly wasn't in my performances. I
had been running a solid 3 seconds slower than I needed to be running to make the
US team at best. By the time the Olympic Trials rolled around, I had decided to
fall back on an old piece of advice that I had once known as old reliable, "Fake
it till you make it." I believed that I belonged with the best in the United
States at 800m and though my fitness wasn't showing it at the time, I decided
to pretend that it was. In the first round I ran out to the front of the field,
leading the greater part of the race through 500m and exuding confidence I didn't
possess. However, shortly thereafter, the reality of my lacking fitness set in
and I struggled across the finish line in 2nd to last place, missing
out on advancing to the next round and going home devastated.
When we talk a big game and never address our
insecurities or doubts, it's all about the appearance of belief and when push
comes to shove, this external variety of confidence fails. True confidence has
to be founded in reality (pg#96, paraphrased). This is the argument regarding
confidence, and ultimately toughness that Magness makes in Part 1 of his book:
Ditch the Façade, Embrace Reality. Wherever our confidence comes from, it must
ultimately be rooted in the reality of the situation. Now when I step to the
line for a race, rather than "fake it till you make it", I tell myself "Run your
best with the fitness you have". Perhaps not as catchy of a line, but repeating
it forces me to assess where I am in my fitness and encourages me to gauge my
effort properly and get the most out of myself on the given day regardless of
who I'm lining up against. As a result, I've been one of the most consistent 800m
runners in the world this season, logging 8 races under 2 minutes so far this
year. So this week, let's all do a reality check and prepare ourselves to place
our confidence in the right places for our upcoming tasks.
Discussion Questions:
1. What
is the motto you tell yourself before a performance to give yourself
confidence?
2. Outside
of maximal performance, in what other ways can having a firm grip on reality
help you accomplish a task?
Subtitle: The
Good Nerves, Mini-blog #2
PART THREE: Chapters 8 & 9
Posted on September 15th, 2022
By Olivia Baker
The worst part of competitive running is the 2 hours
right before a race begins. I can't eat anything because my stomach is filled with
butterflies. I stand up then sit down then stand up again and repeat before my
warm-up even begins because I can't keep still. My fingers tingle, my hands shake,
my mind is unable to focus on anything outside of the multitude of outcomes
possible in the upcoming race, and every time I happen to touch my face my jaw
is subconsciously clenched with tension. I cycle through feeling really anxious
and then feeling exhausted by that anxiety to the point at which by the time I
reach the starting line, I could just as easily both lay down and nap as run a
race. My body is filled with a range of conflicting signals that leave me in a
general state of discomfort but yet are all somehow necessary for me to perform
at my best when the gun goes off. We've all known some variation of this
uncomfortable feeling at some point. It is the body's interoceptive response to
environments that make us nervous.
As Magness describes in part 2 of his book, the
interoceptive system provides an overview of the homeostatic function of the
entire body by using feelings and sensations to communicate the data of our
internal status to our conscious self (pg# 172, paraphrased). The
traditional view of toughness would tell us to ignore these feelings and push
forward no matter what, but Magness suggests a more nuanced approach. An
ability to read and discern our inner world [interoceptive system] gives us
flexibility to respond in a more productive manner [than just pushing through]
(pg#188-189). Part of taking my running from the collegiate to professional
level has involved working with a sports psychologist to learn how to read the
signals my interoceptive system sends and assign them in productive ways. While
I am still a work in progress, nowadays when I feel the butterflies in my stomach,
fingers tingling, and adrenaline rushing through my veins, I call them "the
good nerves" that will propel me to perform better in race situations than I ever
have in practice. When my mind starts to fill with race outcomes, I block them
out and redirect them from the future to the present which is in my control.
And as I stand on the line, squirming with unease, I think about it as all the
passion I have for this sport fueling me and I'm grateful to have something I
care about so deeply that drives me in this way. Next time you feel nervous or
anxious, I encourage you to take a moment to articulate what you are feeling
and then try to reframe it to your benefit.
Discussion Questions:
1. What
are the life situations that make you most nervous? How do you cope with those
nerves?
2. What
nervous responses would you most like to reframe?
Subtitle: Embrace
Your Inner Voice, Mini-blog #3
PART 4: Chapters 10 & 11
Posted on September 22nd, 2022
By Olivia Baker
In one of the more shocking (pun intended) research
studies in this book—and there are quite a few of them that involve the use of
shocks—when given the option to sit at a table for 15 minutes or painfully shock
themselves to pass the time, 25% of women and 67% of men chose to inflict
physical pain upon themselves rather than sit with their thoughts (pg#256). Gender
differences aside, it is unfathomable to think that people would rather feel
physical pain to distract themselves than sit with their thoughts for 15
minutes. However, in a world where we are immersed in the constant presence of
screens and software is designed to serve bite sized pieces of entertainment to
us whenever we want it, it's no wonder we prefer distractions, even physical
pain, to sitting with an inner voice that grows more foreign to us by the day.
We rarely spend time inside our head unless we are forced to do so under stress
and even then, the traditional view of toughness teaches us to ignore those
thoughts and emotions and power through the task at hand. The fact of the
matter is that most of us are unprepared to cope with those inner thoughts in
stressful situations yet doing just that is vital to high performance.
When confronted with pain, grief, stress, pressure,
etc. the voices in our head are amplified and the likelihood of emotionally
spiraling increases. Fortunately, by simply embracing boredom as Magness says,
we can begin to become more attuned to this voice. We can start by noticing (pg#
262) the thoughts and feelings we have as we sit in a space with minimal
distractions. Then we can progress to turning the dial (pg#263), deliberately
increasing or decreasing the volume of the voices we hear when we are not under
stress. Finally, we can practice having a calm conversation (pg#269)
with ourselves to actively direct us towards thoughts that are productive to
our response to the situation and ignore those that aren't. By embracing our
inner voice in times of calm, we can be prepared to respond rather than react
under stress to perform at our best. So this week, when you are in line at a
store, waiting for the bus, out taking a walk, or just passing some time,
resist the urge to pick up your phone. Spend more time looking up than looking
down and getting to know that inner voice.
Discussion Questions:
1. Do
you think you would have shocked yourself (even just out of curiosity) in the
aforementioned experiment?
2. What
are some points in the day in which you could spend some time getting
acquainted with your inner voice?
Subtitle: Revisiting
Traditional Toughness (Mini-Blog #4)
Posted on September 29th, 2022
By Olivia Baker
I've mentioned toughness here and there throughout my
blogs to this point, but I think it's about time I address it directly. The
book is called Do Hard Things but it very well could have had a title
surrounding around what it truly means to be tough as Magness addresses accomplishing
hard feats through the lens of embracing the reality of toughness rather
than the traditional image of it. So as we wrap up this book, here are a
few of the ways that a newer understanding of toughness shifts us away from
that traditional view and can benefit us in our most difficult pursuits.
|
Toughness is NOT… |
|
Toughness is… |
|
· Associated with
an external image. Often times, we link toughness with people who are
physically strong, exude confidence, and show little emotional response or
vulnerability. These people may or may not be tough. |
|
· On the inside. It
has no external shape, size, or color. Rather, it is defined primarily by an
ability to read and respond to one's internal state and adapt it to the
reality of a given situation. |
|
· Powering through
no matter the cost. When it comes to striving for success, we often focus all
our energy on the persistence part of the equation (pg#335), but such a
strategy creates an all-or-nothing pursuit of our goals. |
|
· Knowing when to push
and when to redirect to another goal. Tough people are capable of both
persistence and reengagement. When it's not their day at the competition,
they are able to shift to other goals that would help them get the most out
of their performance on the day. |
|
· Ignoring feelings
and emotions. Bulldozing our emotions and grinding through is an avoidance
strategy that is at best not very smart and at worst can put us in physical
danger by missing the body's warning signs. |
|
· Responding to
feelings and emotions. Real toughness is experiencing discomfort, leaning in,
and creating space to take thoughtful action (pg#28). |
|
· Extrinsic
motivation. Money, fame, and even good performances only motivate in the
short term and aren't relatively strong motivators at that. |
|
· Intrinsic
motivation. PURPOSE is the fuel that allows you to be tough (pg#370) and
nothing can take that away from you. |
All that being said, it is clear that the majority of
an individual's toughness exists internally. Motivation, persistence, emotional
intelligence, self-efficacy—these are all things that we experience internally.
Certainly, external rewards like money and strong performances can motivate us
and give us confidence along the way, but only in the short term. In order to
have long term success—and part of toughness involves enduring for the long
haul—we have to spend time caring for and working to strengthen our inner
environment. For as much time as we spend physically preparing for that next
big task, let us take just as much time to embrace reality, listen to our
bodies, learn to respond rather than react, and find purpose in our tasks to
truly become tough.
Discussion Questions:
1. What
is your biggest takeaway from this book?
2. What
other ways has your definition of toughness changed since reading Do Hard
Things?