I read an article a few months later (I can't remember where, its been several years) where basically the author made fun of the book. I took her stance, too. I mean, sure, I can wish for a pair of Christian Louboutin's all I want, but that doesn't mean I'm going to get them. (I realize wishing for material possessions is not the point of the book, but I still thought the concept was crazy.)
A year or two later, the 2008 Olympics rolled around and I'm an Olympic junkie so I'm glued to the TV for those two weeks. I'm slightly obsessed with gymnastics so, of course, I do NOT miss any of the gymnastics competitions (or the national and Olympic Trials leading up to it). In case you missed it then, Nastia Liukin ended up winning the Olympic All-Around title, the most coveted title in all of gymnastics, beating out Shawn Johnson, who was highly touted to win the competition being the reigning World Champion. In interviews later, Nastia revealed that in the year leading up to the Olympics, she had read "The Secret" and made a vision board that included images of the gold medal to be awarded at the Beijing games to inspire her as she trained. Worked out pretty well for her...
[this is one of my fave images ever]
It wasn't until I started training for this past marathon that I entertained the idea of reading "The Secret" and making a vision board. My goal was a a pretty big reach for me in terms of my running ability so I probably needed a little extra belief in myself to make it happen. I didn't do read "The Secret" (not enough time in medical school this year), but I did make a vision board on a 2 week break I had from school (partly out of boredom). I didn't achieve my goal like Nastia (that perfect bitch), but I think partially it was because I didn't really believe what was on that vision board. I think I'm a little too much of a realist sometimes to really wholly believe in something that I know could happen, but is probably beyond my reach.
A few weeks ago I read this, on a blog about some girl who became an amazingly fast runner (went from like a 4 hr marathon to now close to 3 hrs, which is nutzo):
This took my PR of 3:39:17 down to 3:20:25. I still say that I talked myself into it. For months leading up to that race I woke up every morning looking at the post-it note on my bathroom mirror that read simply “3:20.” [http://thelogicoflongdistance.blogspot.com/2011/05/interview-candice-schneider.html]
Sounds kind of like a quasi-vision board, no?
After reading that, for a hot sec I was all pumped up and got my post-it notes ready to rock. Then, I came back down to Earth.
While I'd love love love (as Teresa Guidice would say) to qualify for Boston at NYC (3:35 for my age group), I realize that would be pretty tough for me as it would need to be a huge PR (by like > 10 min) and NYC is a pretty tough course. So, should I go around putting 3:35 on post-it notes everywhere? I'm not so sure...
I think making your goal a little higher than what you can probably do pushes you a little bit more and you'll achieve something much greater than if you had set your goals "realistically." For example, my goal for the past marathon was 3:40 (the old qualifying std). I didn't get it...I was 3:48 (a 21 min PR!), but if I had set my goal of a more "realistic" 3:50, I probably would've run 3:52.
So, it remains to be seen if I'm going to have post-its with 3:35 or some other goal time posted around my room. Check back in Nov...(if I keep this blog up)...
And, then, after writing all of this, I still wonder why I even care what I run a marathon in. I mean, it really doesn't matter, it has no bearing on my future whatsoever. Is it just being kind of fun a good enough reason to care? I digress...
On a completely different note, if you actually know me in real life, you know I love sending cards. I send them for most holidays and my friend, Madeline, and I send cards back and forth to each each other, usually particularly witty ones or ones with excess sparkles and Disney princesses. Here is one of my favorites from Madeline from recent memory:
[If you can't read it, it says "Trust me, totally hot."]
[sending me a card makes me happy and I will send you back a totally hot one, probably from Papyrus]
Has any of my vast readership done something (like the post-it notes, vision board) that helped them achieve a goal? Spill it, peeps...
[I really need to start studying...]
