Loopy Thoughts

Maintaining streaks is a great impetus for discipline. But I also want to look into importance of rhythm in detail which I feel is like a soul of discipline.

Rhythm is something which you enjoy when you are disciplined. It is difficult to explain but easy to know once you get a hang of it.

In sports, managers and coaches talk about being in rhythm and form invariably. Is it possible to be in great rhythm but in bad form? I always felt that if you are in rhythm for a long time then you are in form.

My trick to get into rhythm every day is a series of steps. Combining them over a long period of time results in me being in good form.

1. For one, Splitting things in great detail helps a lot. I admit, I have always struggled to do this but over the time have understood its importance. Lets take an example of running. If I plan to do 10 miles tempo run, each mile can feel exhaustive. Tricking brain to think about breathing, heart rate, running form, pace at which I need to be running etc on each step easily takes my mind of distance I am yet to cover.
2. Being well prepared helps in decluttering my thoughts. I would not only like to know what / how much I want to run but also what am I running over a period of week and month. I would like to know what must be my weekly and monthly mileage. All these things calms my nerves. Which is crucial for my next point.
3. Breath. Take a pause and breath once a while. What I mean is be more retrospective once a while. Be cognisant of how the process is shaping you to be. Be optimised to be best version of yourself mentally and physically.
4. In the end no matter how diligently you worked and followed your plan, You may not always succeed. Its important to find a closure and move on to next thing. Try things differently or try different things. Either way its important to know when to call it a day and let things go. In running I can only get better at sprinting to certain extent. I don’t think my muscles are wired in such a way that I can run as fast as possible in 100meters. Sprint training is important but its not something that I am going to excel at.

In the end rhythm is where you find a heightened sense of things. Where you have all the time / clarity in the world to go to your next move before everyone else.