Its important to make the distinction between being intense and being tense.
Intense: Possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to an extreme degree.
Tense: In a state of mental or nervous tension.
I am focused intently on completing an Ironman in November. My sleeping and waking dreams put me on the course, in the swim, on the bike, in the run.
Sometimes, okay a lot of times, I get tense about it. Like the swim, my true limiter. One way I am tense is I have been doing a lot of pool swims the last few months. I know that when I go back to the lake, I will be using my wetsuit which gives me much buoyancy. However, I get tense thinking about swiming in the lake without the suit.
I am focused intensely to overcome this so when the time comes I don't lose it mentally. See I believe that by being intense, either in the triathlon sense or the business sense, it brings focus to overcome 'issues', instead of having a pie in the sky approach to 'issues' and then having to get tense about it when it blows up in your face.
For example, I am intense with my employees because I want them to succeed. They know my instensity is all about them executing the systems perfectly because it is what's in their best interest to make money at their job. If I wasn't intense and allowed them to do poorly, then I would start to get tense because I would have pressure on me to correct behavior that I allowed to occur under my supervision.
In your training dreams and business careers, make sure to up the intensity to decrease the feelings of dread you get from being tense.
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8 comments:
food for thought.
i've noticed when i get in a rhythm in the pool, and i relax, the breathing is easier.
intense vs tense... food for thought...
food for thought.
i've noticed when i get in a rhythm in the pool, and i relax, the breathing is easier.
intense vs tense... food for thought...
Thanks for the tip CMS. No limit....!! :)
No need to be tense! The water will be fine. Every time I to a start get a bit uptight about a race or a swim, I think back to a story that happened in between overtimes of a hockey game. I'm not sure of the teams, but it was in the playoffs, 2nd or 3rd overtime. Just before the coach got up to give his "play harder" speech, the team captain stood up and said, "Don't think about the game. You all know what you need to do. Instead, I want you to sit there and think about how you're going to celebrate when you score the winning goal." The players sat there in silence for the next ten minutes, then went out and won the game.
Don't think too much about the race. By the time you step onto the sand and head to the water, you'll be more ready than you ever thought possible -- you'll be able to stop and think about how you're going to celebrate when you cross the finish line!
I like this distinction-I suppose you could also say "intentional" vs reactional. I would rather be on the forward end-makes me less fearful of sharks and drowning.
i wholeheartedly agree. i love intense people, such passion and drive. but the tense ones, well, not so pleasant.
i tensed out during last marathon and almost failed to stop breathing (but no, must keep running!)
Intensity is an extreme preoccupation with the PRESENT MOMENT (INtense).
Tenseness comes from an extreme preoccupation with the PAST or the FUTURE, leaving you not IN the PRESENT (NOT INtense).
I'll take intensity any day.
Mr. Apropos, have noooo fear. Boulder,Trimama, Kahuna and I have already planned the celebration out.
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