“Box” Thinking

I only failed one obstacle and fortunately the penalty was a loop through muddy slop rather than burpees.

It was a dumb mistake.

One of our human tendencies is that we think we’re pretty good about solving related but different problems. But we often overrate our skills. Someone makes a lot of money but that doesn’t mean they can make more money in a different way. Doctors are not good investors.

But there’s an easy solution.

My mistake at the Spartan Super was The Box. The “deceptively simple” obstacle is an eight foot wall one pulls themself over.

Or so I thought.

And here’s why it was a dumb mistake.

For another obstacle, the Rope Climb, advisors teach the j-hook. A certain ankle swoop, lift, and step makes a rope climb like walking up stairs. I was worried about the rope climb – a not “deceptively simple” challenge – so I practiced the j-hook with a blanket while laying on the couch.

And it worked. The Rope Climb was easy.

But did I use the j-hook for The Box? Nope.

Why not? Because it was a box, not a rope climb.

How we frame a situation sets how we see the situation – and how narrow we can be! During the same race, maybe 25 minutes apart, I didn’t connect the dots. I was stuck thinking in the wrong box.

Another point-of-view can be worth forty IQ. So the next time I’m stuck, I’ll get out of the box, and try to see things differently.

Thanks Brad.