Monday, May 17, 2010

Topic Of The Week – The Power Of Words
 
In a room, subjects wait as part of an experiment. They have not been told what the experiment is about.  They have just been told that someone will come and call them one at a time, and when they are called, they should proceed to a room located at the other end of a long hallway, where they will be interviewed.  One at a time they are called, and they walk the length of a long hallway to a room where they meet with their interviewer.  They have a short interview, and are then excused to go back to the waiting room.
 
As it turns out, the topic of the interview itself is not really important.  What is important is that for half of the subjects, the person conducting the interview purposely sprinkles certain words into the conversation, words like slow, tired, lethargic, sleepy, worn down, etc. The other half of the subject do not hear these words during the interview.
 
Unknown to the subjects is that the length of time that it takes for them to walk the long hallway is being recorded.  The fascinating result is that those subjects who heard the special key words during the interview took significantly longer to walk the length of the hallway after the interview than they took to walk to the interview room before the interview. The group that did not hear the key words had no such discrepancy.
 
Thought-provoking stuff.
 
The words that we hear have great power over us.  Even if they have no effect at a conscious level, they get imprinted on us at a subconscious level, and have an effect on our performance.  If we are not aware of this fact, we are subject to the random words that others say to us, and just as importantly, the words that we say to ourselves.  If we are aware of this fact, we can use it to our advantage.
 
As many of you know, I’m really tuned into the things that all of you say during our times together, and tend to react strongly when I hear some of you use words in a way that does not contribute to your success. It’s frustrating sometimes to see you all work so hard during your workouts to build fitness, only to sabotage your own efforts by imprinting unhelpful messages onto your subconscious.  It makes as much sense as attaching a parachute to your back for race day, or trying to run with a backpack full of rocks.
 
Here are some examples of statements that do not serve us well:
 

• I’m not feeling it today.


• I hate the hill at Casey Middle School


• I suck at pacing.


• I have no finishing kick.


• I’m not really very fast.


• I don’t run well in hot weather.


• I’m not a runner.
  

I could go on, but you get the idea.  Most of these statements are made by well-meaning people who may not grasp how much their negative statements imprint themselves on their subconscious, and in doing so, turn their statements into self-fulfilling prophecies.
 
Note that I am not advocating for ignoring challenging issues, or pretending that everything is always perfect, happy, and good. All I am saying is that we need to be very careful in choosing our words, speaking the real truth, and finding ways of phrasing things in a way that will help, not hurt our efforts.  After all, I could argue that none of the above statements are true, and are just exaggerated extrapolations based on an extremely small set of data points that do not necessarily predict the future with any degree of certainty.
 
The ironic part is that most people are hesitant to exaggerate on the positive side.  If we have a bad race, we say stuff like, “I’m so slow.  I suck at racing.”  If we have a good race, we say something like, “It was better than usual.  I don’t know where that came from.”  It like we’re afraid of sounding boastful if we say, “Man, I had a great race today.  I’m feeling like the training is really working.  I’m getting fitter and faster, and turning into a good runner.”
 
The point is that we don’t need to worry about what is really true, and what isn’t, because our subconscious can not distinguish between the two.  It doesn’t evaluate the truth of statements like the rational part of your brain does.  It just hears the words, and the words have an effect.  Nobody told those subjects to walk slower. There was no discussion on a conscious level about how fast or slow they should walk.  It just happened.  The words snuck past the logical, and went directly to work on the physical.  Imagine if those words had been words like fast, tough, strong, calm, confident, relentless, focused, patient, hard-working, etc.
 
Real Life Example
 
Before our 18 Hours of Fruita race last weekend, I went out with my team to pre-ride the course, and check things out.  We had heard that they had added a new section of the course, and we wanted to see what that was like.  I had done the course the previous year, and loved the course.  I was excited to see what they had added.
 
But when we got there, we found that the new section was almost a mile of trail that had just been cut a few weeks before, and was extremely rutted, bumpy, loose, and dusty.  Not only that, but it was a challenging section with so many twists, turns, switchbacks, and hairpins that there was no time during that section where you could mentally or physically relax.  Everyone started complaining about it.  About half way through the section, I found myself complaining to myself, too.  “I hate this new section. The course was perfectly fine.  Why did they have to change it?  This is going to ruin …”
 
And then I caught myself.  I realized I was doing exactly what I tell you not to do.  By telling myself that I hated this section, I pretty much was guaranteeing that I would not be able to ride it as well during the race.  So, I made the decision to change my mind, by changing the words I was using.  But I couldn’t just tell myself that I loved this section.  I needed to find reasons.
 
I decided that I loved this new section for the following reasons:
 

1. I loved the fact that it was a challenge.


2. I loved the fact that it would test my focus and bike handling skills.


3. I loved the fact that everyone else hated it, which would be to my advantage.
   

And that made all the difference.  I did 8 more laps over the course of the next 18 hours of the race.  And each time I approached that section, I reminded myself why I loved it.  It put a smile on my face every time, and I firmly believe enabled me to ride it more efficiently.  It didn’t make the course any less rutted, bumpy, loose, and dusty.  It didn’t make it any less challenging.  I just made it challenging and energizing instead of challenging and miserable. And if you think that it’s just a matter of semantics, then you are underestimating the power of words.
 
Hope that helps …