'Your kids just look like runners...'
I am an athletic director and that statement was made to me after our boys cross country team won a regional championship. I'm a passionate fan of all of our teams, but this one has my son on it so I was enjoying the intersection of professional and personal life. That statement was made by the coach of our strongest contender who we had just soundly defeated. He is an excellent cross country and basketball coach. He knows a ton about high school athletics. He went on to say, 'My kids are pretty good athletes, but, you can tell your kids put in a ton of time running. You can see it. They just look like runners.' He never attended a single practice, he had no idea what our training regiment was, or what our nutritional plan looks like. He didn't know if they had a weight lifting program or not. But he was right. Our boys cross country team is obsessed in-season and out-of-season with things pertaining to distance running. They're mostly long-limbed. You can see almost every fiber of slender muscle on their frames. Their calves and quads look they were meticulously carved. Their running motion is smooth and steady mile after mile. My son is a member of this team and they are all workhorses. I'm a former obsessed athlete, and though my sport was basketball I know exactly what the obsession looks like and my son and his teammates have it. They have begun to look like their obsession.
What's interesting is that they aren't after a look. They are after mileage, times, and wins. They are not after the look of runners, but their morphing bodies are evidence of what they are after.
And that's the thought that really gave me pause. In so many areas of life what we look like is evidence of what we are after. In almost every instance, you simply cannot keep from looking like whatever you are chasing. The look is irrefutable evidence.
Your business looks like whatever you are really after.
Your marriage looks like whatever you are really after.
Your body looks like whatever nutrition or fitness you are really after.
Your career looks like whatever you are really after.
I am an athletic director and that statement was made to me after our boys cross country team won a regional championship. I'm a passionate fan of all of our teams, but this one has my son on it so I was enjoying the intersection of professional and personal life. That statement was made by the coach of our strongest contender who we had just soundly defeated. He is an excellent cross country and basketball coach. He knows a ton about high school athletics. He went on to say, 'My kids are pretty good athletes, but, you can tell your kids put in a ton of time running. You can see it. They just look like runners.' He never attended a single practice, he had no idea what our training regiment was, or what our nutritional plan looks like. He didn't know if they had a weight lifting program or not. But he was right. Our boys cross country team is obsessed in-season and out-of-season with things pertaining to distance running. They're mostly long-limbed. You can see almost every fiber of slender muscle on their frames. Their calves and quads look they were meticulously carved. Their running motion is smooth and steady mile after mile. My son is a member of this team and they are all workhorses. I'm a former obsessed athlete, and though my sport was basketball I know exactly what the obsession looks like and my son and his teammates have it. They have begun to look like their obsession.
What's interesting is that they aren't after a look. They are after mileage, times, and wins. They are not after the look of runners, but their morphing bodies are evidence of what they are after.
And that's the thought that really gave me pause. In so many areas of life what we look like is evidence of what we are after. In almost every instance, you simply cannot keep from looking like whatever you are chasing. The look is irrefutable evidence.
Your business looks like whatever you are really after.
Your marriage looks like whatever you are really after.
Your body looks like whatever nutrition or fitness you are really after.
Your career looks like whatever you are really after.
Here are five steps that can lead you to what you are after and consequently give you 'the look'.
1) Get clear on what you are after. Say it out loud. Write it down. Figure out ways to measure it.
1) Get clear on what you are after. Say it out loud. Write it down. Figure out ways to measure it.
2) Evaluating if your 'look' looks like what you are after. Is this where you want to be? What in your life resembles what you are after? What in your life does not? Is there more 'doesn't look like' than there is 'looks like?
3) Submit yourself to the formal instruction of someone that looks like what you are after. Find an expert and see if they will schedule to have coffee with you regularly. Enroll in a certification course. Begin working on your graduate degree. Join a cohort of like minded individuals all after the same look.
4) Implement what you are learning purposefully. Break out a calendar and mark down when you will do certain new things. Create a goals list that implements these new ideas that you are learning. Enlist the assistance of accountability partner.
5) Practice these new purposeful disciplines for a long time. A. Very. Long. Time. Real, meaningful progress is slow. Painfully slow. Most experts in fitness and nutrition agree that it takes 12 weeks to see any noticeable change once a new diet or workout program is implemented. It takes 12-24 months to earn a master's degree. Social science research says that it takes leaders five years to meaningfully impact culture. The 'look' will begin to present itself so slowly you may not even notice that it's happening.
The look is not what you should be after.
It is evidence of what you are after though.
The look is not what you should be after.
It is evidence of what you are after though.
Keep on, keepin' on everyone!
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on
being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read
about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director
of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few
degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school
sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated
most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter
for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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