When the finish line is in sight
In the wise words of Brandy, “Almost doesn’t count.” (Image by David Mark)
I used to have a tendency to back off when I was winning.
Whether it was a board game or a bit of business success, some combination of guilt, laziness, or fatigue would lead me to coast a bit, leading to diminished results and even losses.
In order to curb this tendency, I took up tennis. I learned how to follow through on a swing and commit to a play. I practiced keeping up the intensity all the way to the end of a match, even when I was losing.
And when I was winning, I realized that’s when I could double down and push harder.
This new way of being had positive repercussions. I saw that so much more of my daily life was in my control than I had thought. I found myself generating fresh momentum and turning the day around when I encountered frustrating circumstances. I figured out how to push through, buoyed by a greater stamina than I had known that I possessed. What I developed, through practice, were deeper reserves of self-discipline, accessed more easily than they had been before.
Having witnessed this phenomenon and the possibilities it opened up for me, I found the ways in which I had lowered my standards or quit early in the past to be more obvious.
And having understood this pattern in myself, I can readily spot it in others. And here’s a big one: America is poised to enter a fourth surge of the pandemic because we are slowing down when we see the finish line instead of after we’ve crossed it.
I get it. As I said, I used to do it. I used to relax and take it easy when I had started to pay down my credit card or had a few sales coming in or had booked a gig. The goal was in sight, so I stopped doing the work, ensuring that I would never actually reach my destination.
The light at the end of the tunnel, welcome as the sight is, isn’t an invitation to lay down your burden and take a nap. It isn’t the time to let someone else do the work. It is the moment to up the intensity, tapping into the excitement of finally reaching the home stretch.
In our current circumstances, it’s kind of funny. We have to stay home with more vigor! We must wear our masks more—tightly? We have to do less to keep ourselves and our communities safe. I’ll admit, it’s a bit counterintuitive. But the things we choose not to do will continue to have a profound impact on the outcome of this pandemic. That’s what is finally going to get us across the finish line. We just have to keep it up a little longer while we get ourselves vaccinated. If we slow down and change course right at the end, this will drag on forever.
The final round can feel like absolute agony. Your muscles are screaming and you’re desperate for physical and mental relief. Everything in your body and mind is telling you to stop. But sustaining the pace for just a little longer—knowing that discomfort isn’t fatal and being willing to lean into it—is the difference between winning and losing. Between success and failure.
We humans have a lot of trouble saying no to short-term pleasures in favor of our long-term goals. We celebrate a few pounds of weight loss with a bowl of ice cream, you know? Working hard is uncomfortable, and sustaining that hard work can be demoralizing when results are not immediately forthcoming. But when we are seeing results, that’s the real test. We have to view our progress as evidence that we are on the right track and should continue, as tempting as it might be to ease up or take a break at the earliest sign of success. When we get all the way across the finish line, the clock stops running and we can celebrate. But not until then.
