The Pinkathon Learnings
I ran the Pinkathon 3 km race today. My office had done corporate registrations for this event. Pinkathon is India’s Biggest women run. The website of Pinkathon says “Pinkathon is more than a Marathon. It is the seed of change. It is the beginning of a movement carried forward by a growing community of empowered women across India, who share a belief that a healthy family, a healthy nation and a healthy world begins with empowered women.”
Why do people run these days? Why are marathons so popular? At the first glance, the purpose of marathons is to be fit and healthy. This is obviously true. But there is a deeper meaning than this.
I think running for any marathon is a process. To be able to run on the marathon day , you need to practice regularly beforehand. You can start with smaller runs and then gradually practice and go for longer runs in the future. There is only one winner , but yet everybody practices in full zeal . What if we apply the same learning to our personal and professional life. There are a lot of goals which seem insurmountable at the start, but once you practice and persist things start getting better. Just like a marathon practice requires showing up daily to practice, a lot of professional goals require daily effort. You may not always succeed, just like you don’t win all the marathons. But every step of practice takes you closer to the goal. A marathon thus teaches endurance and persistence. As Harsha Bhogle has said “In sport , you win some , you lose some”. But losing doesn’t mean you give up. Sport teaches us not to give up. It teaches us to continue to be our best and enjoy the game more than the result.
In this Pinkaton, there was interesting thing. They had asked us to pin up the BIB with this message behind “ I have left my ……… behind” . While I was in the marathon , I noticed what the participants had written in the blank. Some of them are as follows:
Worries ( So this reads as “I have left my worries behind”)
Fear of failing/ Fears
Self distrust/Self doubt
Weakness and negativity
Mental block
Anger
The disappointments
Obstacles
Oversensitivity
Procrastination
Emotions
Stress
Negative people
Excuses
Low confidence
Negative thoughts
Procrastination
Irresponsibility
Inhibitions
Why do people run these days? Why are marathons so popular? At the first glance, the purpose of marathons is to be fit and healthy. This is obviously true. But there is a deeper meaning than this.
I think running for any marathon is a process. To be able to run on the marathon day , you need to practice regularly beforehand. You can start with smaller runs and then gradually practice and go for longer runs in the future. There is only one winner , but yet everybody practices in full zeal . What if we apply the same learning to our personal and professional life. There are a lot of goals which seem insurmountable at the start, but once you practice and persist things start getting better. Just like a marathon practice requires showing up daily to practice, a lot of professional goals require daily effort. You may not always succeed, just like you don’t win all the marathons. But every step of practice takes you closer to the goal. A marathon thus teaches endurance and persistence. As Harsha Bhogle has said “In sport , you win some , you lose some”. But losing doesn’t mean you give up. Sport teaches us not to give up. It teaches us to continue to be our best and enjoy the game more than the result.
In this Pinkaton, there was interesting thing. They had asked us to pin up the BIB with this message behind “ I have left my ……… behind” . While I was in the marathon , I noticed what the participants had written in the blank. Some of them are as follows:
Worries ( So this reads as “I have left my worries behind”)
Fear of failing/ Fears
Self distrust/Self doubt
Weakness and negativity
Mental block
Anger
The disappointments
Obstacles
Oversensitivity
Procrastination
Emotions
Stress
Negative people
Excuses
Low confidence
Negative thoughts
Procrastination
Irresponsibility
Inhibitions
Look at the above list. Isn’t it wonderful. What if we are really able to leave all these things behind? Wouldn’t we be more successful in life? If you look at it, marathon , makes us live in the moment. Just the fact you are “running” in the moment, makes us forget all these things. When running becomes a habit, focusing on the moment becomes a habit. Living in the present is very important to be successful. More precisely, as Harsha Bhogle says in his book The Winning Way 2.0 “ Buddhist monks frequently talk about living in the present and ridding the mind of the baggage of the past and the anxiety of the future.” This , I think, is one of the important factors of good performance.
My friend Priyanka had suggested that I should participate in this Pinkathon as it would be a good motivating start for running. I was initially scared as I had not practiced running. Then office opened corporate registrations and I found out that even 3 km run was an option. Hence, I decided to register for this small run. While I was running (and walking also for a lot of time), I realized that even running 3 kms at a stretch was difficult for me. I have lots to do even before I can easily run even a small race like 3 km. I hope this marathon serves as a reminder to me to continue to run. And I hope that all the good qualities that any marathon requires, also get reflected in my personal and professional life. Probably any organization which encourages employees to run also has this in mind, which I believe is an amazing employee and team motivation initiative.
I would like to conclude this with a short poetry. I had written this to summarize what I had learnt from the book “The Winning Way 2.0”. I think this marathon has taught me something similar. I may not be a good runner, but I can practice and become a best runner to my fullest potential.
“In any game, sometimes failures happen
Let them not dampen spirits, do not get shaken
For all you know, winning is not about not failing
It is also about failing and getting up fast
Winning is a journey to be your best
It's a quest for excellence and not a comparison with the rest
The winning way is a journey , it's a test
You always win it when you are better than your best”
Let them not dampen spirits, do not get shaken
For all you know, winning is not about not failing
It is also about failing and getting up fast
Winning is a journey to be your best
It's a quest for excellence and not a comparison with the rest
The winning way is a journey , it's a test
You always win it when you are better than your best”
-Dhanashree
No comments:
Post a Comment