Act It Until We Become It

Rather than asking ourselves, “What should I do this weekend?” we ought to check in on the question, “What do I do every day?” Our mundane routines determine our long-term destiny. Our habits decide our fate. Our daily practices define who we become.

Three years ago, during the United States Olympic Team Trials, Anna Hall fell during a qualifying meet. The track-and-field standout lost her spot for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Six months ago, Anna underwent knee surgery. Since then, she has vulnerably shared her thoughts, journal entries, and workout sessions for the world to see on Instagram. Two weeks ago, she qualified to represent Team USA in the heptathlon event for the Paris Olympic Games later this Summer.

Three training sessions per day. Two roads to choose from: get bitter or get better. One journal entry daily. Anna embodied how systems, not just desires, make our own luck.

Success is the product of daily habits; not once-in-a-lifetime transformations … Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.

– James Clear, thought leader and author of Atomic Habits

With intention, she wrote affirmations in her journal.

The type of person Anna became, an Olympian, derived from what she did daily for the past 4,400 hours since surgery in January. One in particular journal entry stands out: “I can. I will. I must. I’m still here. Today, I become an Olympian.” Surrounding those lines are reminders about her running form, measurements she plans to attain, and actions to complete. Life remains a continuous series of self-fulfilling prophecies, and Anna was doing something I call making a phone call to the world (Matthew 7:7).

Thoughts determine what we want, desired goals. Actions determine what we get, tangible results. In the competitive atmosphere of high performance, details make a difference in end results. In the 100-meter sprint, for example, half of one-second separates a gold medalist from the fourth-place finisher. Months of habitual choices culminate in two drastically different outcomes determined in half of one second. 

This is not about becoming an Olympian. This is about cultivating an Olympic mindset around our daily decisions. There is a fine line between chasing perfection and being self-abusive; this is about excellence: most of the time choosing the hard right instead of the easy wrong.

We cannot manage what we do not measure.

We must take ourselves away from a fog of ignorance and into a light of awareness. What is something that we should, could, and would do daily that may make all the difference for us? The rock we should push down the hill. The momentum we could seize. The reward we would get, not tomorrow… months from now.

What you need most lies where you least want to look … Where your fear is, there is your task.

– Carl Gustav Jung, arguably the most influential psychologist in history.

Our problems are our goals. The former has a negative connotation for the positive latter. Once we create a vision of who we would like to be in the future, we identify milestones to summit along the way, and we lay out the steps toward that first milestone, action is a must. Most people know what to do; very few do what they know. Our character is what we carry out.

Manifestation is not only visualizing the path to our future selves; it requires paving the road to get there, one day at a time. One task at a time. One moment at a time. 

For Anna, it was everyday journaling, praying, and training. Every day. 

For us, it is _____.

Execute what’s easy. Implement ideas. Do what we said we would do.