DrTri Weekly Health & Fitness HomeWork for 8/3/09

Hang on, this is a thoughtful HomeWork!

Ego
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin.
Date: 1789
1 : the self especially as contrasted with another self or the world
2 : the one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory that serves as the organized conscious mediator between the person and reality especially by functioning both in the perception of and adaptation to reality — compare id, superego

This week's HomeWork has to do with the above word, ego....
As I see it, and feel free to correct me if you like, the ego is not a good or a bad thing, it simply is a thing. Like many other mental entities, you can not touch it, measure it, or easily affect it. It has a certain nebulous quality that makes it hard to explain, and hard to grasp exactly when it is active. What can be good or bad, is the way in which the ego is expressed. In many situations the ego can drive people to greatness and selfless service, while in other situations it can get in the way of communication, relationships, and/or happiness and success. All depends on how we act upon our egos, or act when our egos 'act up'....

So this week's HomeWork is to identify a situation, action, or behavior that is negatively affected or influenced by your ego and change it. Now 'bad' and 'good' are subjective terms. In this case I mean 'good' to be positively beneficial to your health, fitness, and/or mental well-being. While 'bad' has a negative impact on your health, fitness, and/or mental well-being.

While this HomeWork is not about me, I will share a situation where my ego was negatively impacting my life, as an example for you... Ironman Canada.
This year I will not 'compete' in Ironamn Canada, but will rather 'participate'. As such I do not anticipate having a stellar finishing time. Probably about 60 to 90 minutes slower than last year, which will put me right in the fray with the majority of other finishers in my age group.
Huh?!?!?! "DrTri" is not going to have some awesome finish and set some sort of new course record or maybe even win or become the world's greatest Ironman Triathlete (even though they don't hand out that prize at this, or any triathlon)?!?!?!?!?!?!?
But... but.... but....
I'm DrTri! Don't you know that I am a Doctor AND a Ironman Triathlete!?!? I am an "EXPERT" on triathlon coaching. I know better than any other triathlon coach in the entire UNIVERSE!!!!
As a friend of mine once said, "Get over yourself..."
True dat.
I realized that when my training was not going as I had wanted this year due to life and 'stuff', that I would not have a great race in Canada. Of course I went through the stages, DABDA. And then thought I should pull out of the race. I made up excuses and justifications for why I should not waste anymore time training for a race that I would not do my best at. And then, after a couple weeks, it hit me. I was doing exactly what I dislike about the sport of triathlon (and many other sports for that matter), I was doing the race mostly because of my ego. And therefore, I was wanting to do well because of my ego. I was soooooo worried about what it would look like if "DrTri" did not have some stellar race, that I forgot that I was meant to be doing the race for fun, to challenge my self personally, and to accomplish a personal goal. Not for how it reflected upon "DrTri"...
SO I changed my attitude and am doing the race for fun and to finish the darn thing. Don't get me wrong, I will train the best I can and participate the best I can. But, I will not be doing it because of my ego and not let my ego affect how I feel about my performance on that day. I will be doing it for fun and the personal challenge. Period. Finish time be damned!
Consequently my training feels better and more enjoyable. My fitness is doing very well. And I am back to having fun with this silly triathlon thing again.
So, again, what is a behavior or attitude where your ego is negatively affecting your life?
Can you change that?

Other examples might be:
Saying yes to everything asked of you, no matter how it impacts your life.
Worrying about what you look like in every picture taken of you.
Pretending to know something that you do not.
Being defensive when someone points out a mistake you made.
Not doing something enjoyable simply because you are not good at it.
Etc. Etc. Etc.

I am sure that you have something in your life that you can think of almost off the top of your head!

So, now, go out there and exorcise your ego, and exercise your body and mind!

Have a great week,
MRoss