Speed vs Endurance

“The prize doesn’t go to the fastest guy. It goes to the guy who slows down the least.” 

– Rich Roll

I heard this quote from ultramarathon runner and podcaster Rich Roll the other day. It stopped me in my tracks because I’d never thought about it in quite that way before. The idea that in a race, or for that matter in any extended period of effort (e.g. your work), it’s not about speed per se. It’s about endurance. It’s about learning to pace yourself, rather than going fast all of the time.

And then I realised: it’s the old tortoise and the hare story.

I think our society undervalues the tortoise’s wise approach. Going fast is easy. We know how to go fast. It’s seductive. Endurance is harder. It requires awareness, skill and discipline. For me at least, it requires me to consciously be aware of how fast I’m moving, and choose to pace myself.

Are you trying to be a person who moves fast, or to be a person who knows how to slow down the least?

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