Die Hard….. these incorrigible bad habits!
Last Sunday, I did a time trial run of Half-marathon distance. I ended up being full four and a half minutes slower than my previous such attempt (1hour: 54mins:22seconds versus 1hour: 50mins: 11seconds). Quality of the experience was also quite bad. In my previous attempt, I did a negative split (in running world, this is a positive thing — it means second half was run faster than the first half). This time around, even after significantly slowing down the pace mid-way, I just about managed completing the run.
Now this post is not about how fast I run (at least five others completed their run within 1hour 30 mins and a bunch of others under 1hour 50 mins — I was among the slowest!) but about how easily and quickly I seem to have forgotten all the lessons from my years of running — those that I painstakingly learnt by committing one costly mistake after another.
Here are my observations about this run:
- I started out fast and kept a higher (a good 20 seconds/Km) than desired pace until 7K — this is a basic rookie mistake. Coach will not be happy about this
- It was raining throughout the run — so maneuvering around puddles and traffic turned out to a bit of an extra hassle
- I ran a route that had relatively more elevation gain than the previous one
- Most prescient observation: I was mentally not ready for the run. For a person who dreads fast workouts like me, this is particularly un-excusable. I did not consult the coach for recommended pace nor did I settle on one, myself. I had a rough and loose target in mind. Also, I think I was looking for a justifiable excuse to avoid the run itself.
Neither ‘not being mentally ready for an intense run’ nor ‘pacing wrong during the run’ were new to me. I worked hard on overcoming these tendencies. Suddenly, I lost this mindset and I fell back into my old and wrong ways.
When I think about this, I have slid into my old, bad ways in other facets of my life as well. I have stopped making notes on books that I completed reading, I’ve stopped writing my journal for a number of weeks now. My focus is diffused and hence not making any notable progress on most of my important priorities. I have fallen into decadence! Only saving grace is that this can be relatively easily fixed as it just a matter of mindset and discipline.
Also, this is the not the first time that this happened — this keeps happening on and off every few months to years. Also I suspect that this may not unique to me — most others may also experience this.
Why does this happen?
For the purposes of this article, I’m classifying habits/tendencies such as laziness, instant gratification, procrastination, not learning from past mistakes etc as bad habits and long term orientation, eating healthy meals and the like as good habits.
It seems to me that our original core nature always remains — even when we develop good habits, it is just that we are crowding out our bad habits with good ones. Bad habits don’t get destroyed. Bad habits are lurking deep down on the brain-stack for opportunities to assert themselves.
Conscious conduct of life requires constant focus and energy. Mind is a fabulous rationalizing machine — so slip-ups on the accountability part are easily rationalized — mainly because accountability rests with us — not with a second person. Also, it is estimated that our brain accounts for about 20% of our body’s expenditure. If we tax with additional demands of conscious life, it may constantly look for ways to get out those activities while at the same time without making us lose our sense of ownership (by creating justifications — rationalizing our actions!)
On the other hand with default life, we largely yield to the “here and now” priorities and demands. We get away with doing the minimum (or a bit more) amount of activity required to get by and get back to material indulgences. This reduces the colorific demands on the body (particularly from the brain) — our evolutionary tendencies support this too — don’t waste calories, preserve them for the rainy days!
“A general “law of least effort” applies to cognitive as well as physical exertion. The law asserts that if there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will eventually gravitate to the least demanding course of action. In the economy of action, effort is a cost, and the acquisition of skill is driven by the balance of benefits and costs. Laziness is built deep into our nature.” ― Daniel Kahneman
How do we address this — here is what I think about this:
- It is important to have external measures of accountability. Eg., this Time trial running event served this purpose for me. It made me realize how quickly I was sliding down the wrong path
- Mentors/Confidantes/Coaches: enlist help of mentors or coaches who can keep us honest on our path. Given that their minds are not obliged to yield to our mind’s rationalizing attempts, there is a good chance of benefit here. My status: I’ve tentatively started on this but quite a way to go yet
- Also, surrounding ourselves with relevant, positive, optimistic and progressive people can have a highly beneficial effect. For example, I try to take help of my running partners — if and when their paces match my pace — to keep me honest with my pace. In such instances, I have fared better on my sticking to pace than when I’m run solo.
- Important to recognize that these slip-ups may happen from time to time and hence beating ourselves up is not useful — it is lot more important to observe ourselves objectively, recognize the slide and correct course as needed
During inspired moments, it may seem like nothing can go wrong in life as we leverage our strong positive habits and subdue our old bad habits but as life happens, our old bad habits may take brief stronghold — in these times, it is important to recognize the slide early enough and take steps to get the right balance back.
