Chasing the win from miles away
“Build strength, commit to it, train consistently and patiently. Keep your eyes steady on the work before you. Your strong body is full of purpose. You are equipped for every moment of your life. So train in such a way to be ready for anything.”
— Sally McRae, Pro Ultra Runner
In this edition:
Get better with less to soar with more
High performance over gendered leadership
Tracking your health like a pro
STORY
Working in imperfect conditions
In the last edition, I shared my decision to change high schools after a prolonged depression and suicide ideation.
It was “perfect timing”, a year right before the daunting national exam that would determine my career (it didn’t). At the time though, getting the best result was part of building a work ethic towards the life I wanted.
One evening I was in excruciating pain so I stayed in the dormitories. The matron dragged me into the nurse’s office and off to class I went only to walk into a Biology exam.
It was 7 pm, the room was dead silent, no time to explain to my teacher what had happened, no time to ask for a repeat, just sit and write.
I was already behind on the syllabus so it was an opportunity to revise. My opportunity to work in imperfect conditions. I gave it my best and ended up doing quite well.
It instilled a new sense of self-belief that would come in handy when I fell into depression right before KCSE.
It’s easy to feel the world owes you success or a break from hardship because you’ve suffered a lot. I think it’s better to design a life that conditions you for the impossible you want to accomplish — no matter how long it takes.
With less mental capacity I had to switch strategies — no more trying to catch up on syllabus, just get better at answering questions.
Academics has always been an opportunity to push my limits. I practised being the best in the lifelong competition with myself even if I wasn’t racing to win like I was used to.
It was a small contribution to the larger goal of excelling while completely unwell so that someday when I have fewer symptoms, I can soar again.
A journey of a thousand miles that had to start somewhere. I just decided to do it when everything was hopeless around me and you can too.
STUDY WITH ME
Cultivating a relentless mindset is central to how managing my health and career so I consistently consume content that reinforces this.
Here are my top picks this week:
Listen: Your limits are an illusion
Watch: Do the work
IN MY WORDS
Female founder or just a founder?
This week I listened to Leila Hormozi, Founder & CEO of Acquisition.com, share why she doesn’t call herself a “female founder”.
Her rationale is that the female label isn’t necessary for the skills required to run a successful business. She acknowledges historic bias from norms on women’s societal role but questions how useful the “label” is to her performance.
We’ve discussed the need for lasting solutions to gender inequality. I believe the “female founder” campaign emerged with good intentions but I think business requires grit, risk and ambition that anyone can learn.
A hidden issue may be labelling these qualities “masculine”, suggesting they need to change to achieve equality and alienating people who espouse them.
I think Tall Poppy Syndrome may have emerged from this where both men and women sabotage high-performing women in the workplace for being high achievers.
High performance is a requirement for business success. It also comes with ups and downs so resilience is necessary for sustained innovation.
Perhaps we can focus gender efforts on upskilling business leaders in these areas while encouraging them to learn from each other regardless of gender.
TRIAGE
Tracking your mental health
In a previous edition, I shared my system for tracking symptoms so I could design the best treatment plan.
Here are different tools I’ve used over the years:
GoogleKeep: a quick note-taking app where I dump all my observations to organise later
Google Doc: to categorise observations into relevant symptoms and management tools to share with my healthcare team
Clarity: its in-built Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) tool helped me reframe challenging thoughts
Bipolar UK Mood Tracker: used the bipolar scale to check average mood levels over time
Daylio: to leave myself encouraging messages through voice recordings, images and notes
It may feel boring but it’s how you build confidence to advocate for yourself. Keep exploring beyond this list to find what works for you.
Ultra runners often use pacers, other runners, to help them stick with their race strategy for hundreds of miles.
I have a friend, Alistair Gould, who often says “Push past quit, how else will you know your limits?” I’ve watched my life improve because of choosing the right pacer for my lifelong marathon.
Who are the pacers in your life? Until next time.
WN