Do the thing.

Zen and the art of not getting overwhelmed by big challenges.

Mantra: Do the thing.

Before I packed my overweight bags and boarded a 15-hour flight to South Africa, I had one last hard workout at home to prepare for Cape Epic.

It was a new session for me - a variation on over-unders: 30 seconds hard, 1 minute steady, repeated seven times. Five total sets. Five minutes rest between each.

Given that I’d never done the workout before, I set out with no expectations and maybe even a hint of curiosity.

The 30 seconds felt hard, but were over quickly. I settled into the minute. Three more overs. Two more unders. I didn’t think about the whole workout. I didn’t think about what it “meant.” I just did the next piece.

When I got home and zoomed out at the data, I realized something surprising:

Without realizing it, I had essentially done one of my least favorite workouts - 5x5 minutes - at a higher power than I’d ever done it before.

If I had looked at it that way ahead of time, I would have set out with a bit of dread. I might have thought that number was too hard, too much of a reach. But broken into pieces - and, critically, done without a beginner’s mindset - it became doable, comfortable even.

That’s the lesson I’m taking into Cape Epic. When we zoom out too far, big challenges can become overwhelming. The mind is very good at building things up - making them even more challenging than they need to be.

The antidote isn’t in the thinking. It’s in the doing.

Not the whole thing at once. Not the imagined version of it. But the task right in front of you.

There is a time to plan. There is a time to prepare. And then there is a time to let all that noise settle and simplify into the one thing right in front of you.

Do the thing.

It feels so good to finally be here in South Africa doing the thing!

Musing: start walking…

Musing:

Are you in a phase of the process where thinking is rewarded or where acting is essential?