Cost of Entry
Recently, on a run a big idea came to me. I wanted to chew on it. I wanted to let it marinate. Here’s a few of my usual ramblings taking a weird idea and tying it to something very different. I have an idea for a book that contradicts this idea, but maybe thats where it spawned from. It is the cost of entry, a minimum if you will for certain things that then open you to a new perspective or awareness. Let’s talk.
So, during this run this thought came to me. Running and a few other sports (wrestling comes to mind) have a fairly low cost to entry. Quite the opposite of something like hockey or skiing which are fairly gear dependent and heavier on the cost scale, the aforementioned may only involve a pair of shoes, or potentially a ball. Meaning the gear is not the most important asset in the ability to play the game. This isn’t a ploy to try to downplay the skill needed or the time you have to put in, if anything, it is the opposite. The idea is that that with some sports, activities, ideas, etc.. the concept may be simple. The cost of entry may be light, but the execution and the growth is where the rubber hits the road, or where it separates the men from the boys. (idk just pick an inspirational quote from rocky or sports)
Let’s mainly focus on running. So, you decide you’re going to undertake your first race. You and a few friends decide to do a half marathon. You download a program online and begin to train after buying your first pair of shoes. You begin to run. One of the most simple ideas in the world. Place one foot in front of the other repeatedly for a set amount of time and then stop. After the first few weeks you see some gains!! Your mile time goes down, your legs feel strong, you’re lungs begin to feel a comfort from a place that once left a burn in them. You one day are chatting amongst your friends and run into an old friend at the coffee shop who through some quick conversations (because runners talk about running, duh) you find out is a runner as well. She has been running for quite some time and has run multiple races, and offers to do a training run with you over the weekend. You accept. Sunday long run shows up and you both take off. you start at relatively the same pace, but through an awkward encounter with a Chihuahua, a squirrel, and three doves you are now slightly behind her. You start to notice a few things… her foot placement during her stride. The cadence and frequency of how she repeats her steps, how effortless it seems that she places her feet one after another (simple concept remember) and her unusual ability to maintain this poise for the entirety of the run. You also see that her breathing is not difficult nor labored, but calculated and in tempo.
Towards the end of the run you really begin to feel it. It was your first long run covering such a distance and you began to notice some pain in your knees, as well as a slight betrayal from your lungs and legs who in the past had been becoming your friend. You chat with your friend at the end and find out that she has actually been doing this training for longer than she led on, and how she knew a lot of finite details that came with the sport of running. You also compare run stats at the end and realize she actually maintained a better, more consistent, per mile pace and even had a lower average hear rate. None of these statistics mean anything to you if you don’t run, but the concept is that she did better. Thats the thing with running, putting in time is the ONLY way to get better. And the more you run the more you learn. You get small problems, you get big problems. You learn your body, your stride, your diet, what works, what doesn’t. As you improve and run more you begin to realize how little you know and how your times may not be as good as you thought, but also how such a low cost of entry at the beginning is now a bigger commitment than you thought.
Getting a little ranty I know, but not my intention. I am by no means a great runner, I am by no means great at anything. What I have realized though is that this concept is also true for a lot of things. The only way to find greatness in some things is through slow, tedious, monotonous, and longggg hours of work. And though the cost of entry into some of these things may be fairly low, as you become more involved and surround yourself with people who also may have a passion for these things you begin to realize how much time and effort you have to put in to become good, to become great. Apply it to strength, endurance, knowledge, friendships, love, so many topics/sports/ideas that all come through time. Where there is no avoiding it, no shortcuts, no tricks up your sleeve. While we all have differences and there are things that can help speed up things, some things in life come from one thing, work. Putting in the time practice it. Get better at it. Fail at it. To come to a place where you can then push yourself to new levels. To find yourself becoming more and more successful.
In wrestling I often describe this as if you are reading a book. Some wrestlers get to page 10 and out the book down. Some get to page 25 and put the book down. Some make it to 125 and put the book down. There are levels to everything we do in life. Sometimes it takes something with a low cost of entry to put it into perspective. To take a step back, to humble yourself. To realize we all fall short, but it’s those who continue to pick the book back up that continue to learn. Continue to grow. Because it’s in these things we need not find our destination, but merely enjoy the journey.
On purpose,
Matt
“Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.” - Jordan Peterson
“If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” - Max Ehrmann
