The Danger of Overconfidence

I have a really unique running shirt. As you might imagine, since I average about 60 races per year, I see lots of shirts. Some are very well designed. Others you are hesitant even to try and give away. But this shirt is still unique. It comes from Istanbul, Turkey. A friend of mine was actually there and brought it back for me. The imprint on it reads: "The Meeting Of Continents, Istanbul 2008", together with Olympic logos.

I like having the shirt. I especially appreciate the friend who brought it to me. The problem is, however, that there are no Olympics planned for Istanbul, Turkey in 2008! Those Olympics will be in Beijing, China instead. Yet Istanbul was so confident that they were going to get them that they printed their shirts in advance. I do not know how many thousand they may have printed; but they advertise an event that is not going to happen. The shirts must now be a source of embarrassment to them. Their overconfidence is being exposed before the world. I suspect that is not a good feeling.

Have you ever had that to happen to you? Have you had to pay the price of your own overconfidence? If so, it likely is not something that you want to repeat. It seems that about once in a lifetime is enough!

Now there is nothing wrong in having your dreams. Setting personal goals is a good thing. It is not even bad to share your goals with a close friend or running companion. Sometimes that is a step toward their becoming realities. The danger comes when we have not given ourselves enough "wiggle room" to allow for changing circumstances.

OVERCONFIDENCE CAN CAUSE YOU TO RUN POORLY. It leads you to think that you only have to run and not necessarily to run well. It prevents your giving that extra something that will cause you to do your best. It creates the feeling that you have it made; and this simply does not contribute to good running.

OVERCONFIDENCE SETS YOU UP FOR A FEELING OF FAILURE. No matter how well you run, you are not going to be happy with yourself unless you meet your stated goals. It is not so much that your friends will feel that you have failed. The danger is that YOU will feel that you have failed. You may have run a great race under the circumstances; but still be unhappy with yourself. You did not measure up to the confidence expressed in advance.

OVERCONFIDENCE IS SELF-DEFEATING. It does not allow room for extenuating circumstances. This is where the difference between your dreams and real-life circumstances come in. When you told others what you were going to do, it may have been something fully within your reach, BUT ONLY UNDER IDEAL CIRCUMSTANCES. Yet race day circumstances are seldom ideal. Sometimes by the time you arrive you already see things that concern you. Many things may not be as you expected. The result is that you are hoping to run a perfect race under very imperfect circumstances. The chances of that happening are very slim.

IT IS ACTUALLY TO YOUR ADVANTAGE TO "RUN SCARED", Not because you have no confidence; but because you do not even know all the hindrances you may face on this particular day. But if you will cut yourself some slack, you will be ready to run your best under the particular circumstances you face today. That can leave you feeling good about yourself, regardless of the time on the clock.

An ancient king once sent a message to his enemy saying "Let not him that girds on his armor boast himself as him that puts it off". In other words, don't go claiming a great victory before you have even gone to war. There will be plenty of time after the race is over to receive commendation for a race well run, You don't have to try to claim it in advance. Furthermore, the results will then reflect all the circumstances of the race itself. You can't even feel bad about a poor time if the conditions caused it to happen to everyone on the same day.

So dream your dreams. Set your personal goals. Work toward attaining them. Have great expectations for the days ahead; but allow for the changing circumstances of every race you run. Reasonable confidence is great, while overconfidence is one of the greatest enemies of good running. So don't print your Olympic shirts before all the bids are in!!!