The parable of the plank
Death-defying stunts like scaling a building or walking across a thin plank while hundreds of feet off the ground are fascinating to me. How can one sum up the courage to even attempt such a thing? One mistake and you could die.
There’s a story of a man who used to do these plank walks and would give an explanation of how he does it. He demonstrated by putting a long plank, around 10ft across, on the ground and asking people to walk across it.
It was quite easy for everyone that walked across it. He then raised the plank to one foot off the ground, and again everyone crossed it with ease.
He explained that what he does and what they just did is no different. Even if his plank is hundreds of feet in there, nothing has changed. The plank is still the same size and still the same length. The only thing that has changed is our perception of it.
This didn’t make any sense until I played team basketball and shot free throws during practice versus the games. The distance from the basket was the same, and so was the ball I was using. The only thing that changed was there were more people at the games.
It was a self-imposed pressure we put on ourselves that made it exponentially bigger than it was supposed to.
If we could put ourselves in this mindset, we could excel regardless if anyone is watching or not.
Perhaps this is the reason that we don’t start or continue an activity or hobby. This self-imposed pressure we put on ourselves continues to escalate and pretty soon, it takes over and manifests itself as a real problem.
When I played sports, the day before would be terrible. It was hard to sleep, and all I could think about was how they were going to beat us. Worse was how I would imagine my opponents being bigger, faster, and better than me. That I would be the reason that we lose.
I focused more on that versus making sure I was ready — through practices, film study, rehabilitation, and more. I was fixated on what I couldn’t control.
I used to cringe whenever professional athletes said it’s not them versus everyone else, it was them vs them. But if you think about it, if you can conquer yourself, then it’s always 1 vs 1, instead of 1 vs 2 ( yourself and the opponent).
If you practice well and prepare accordingly, then you’ve done the best that you can. If you lose, it’s time to reevaluate and get better next time.
The pressure isn’t real, only we can make it real.
Whether you’re walking on a plank hundreds of feet in there or giving a presentation to hundreds of people, nothing really changes. Whether it’s one person or a hundred, just focus on what you can do.
*Check out my last article on To win or to be right*
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