Looking ahead to what’s next is how we keep moving forward. I’d never suggest that you live in the future tense. We all do that too much as it is. We wonder about tomorrow, we lament on last week. We wander around distracted with no focus on today. No, I’m suggesting that you look ahead to your more immediate next step. When riding a bike, you look *through* the turn. When running, you judge the obstacles in the distance. Will you need to test your agility to make it past that couple holding hands on the narrow path? Will you run right through them and treat their arms like finish line tape? When performing any coordinated exercise, your brain stays engaged, thinking of foot/hand placement. Embrace that ideal of looking ahead to the next moment while staying present in this one. If that sounds contradictory, recognize that it takes some time to master this technique. (I am not an expert. However, I’ve watched people that are far better at this practice than myself.) Consider a juggler’s process. The hand is ready for the catch before the ball/knife/chainsaw falls to the ground. That happens by looking ahead to the next moment while staying present in *this* moment enough to toss the third/fourth/fifth item into the air. Please remember, thinking ahead is very different from multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is a myth. Multi-tasking is just doing many things, poorly, at once, instead of doing one thing well. Instead, I try to use the same logic as my cousin, the Navy S.E.A.L. “Think ahead, use your head, get ahead, stay ahead.”, he would say. I’m suggesting that you do the same in an effort to help your training. Think about your meals for the day so that you won’t have to *scavenge* for fast food. Think about your training attire and check the weather to see if they match. Think about the duration of the workout and give your best effort, without emptying your reserve tank in the first 15 minutes. (Be patient and your reserve tank will grow as your level of fitness improves.)
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