‘Run with Your Mind, Not Just Your Legs!’
Sometimes one single line can make a huge difference to your life. It could be something you’ve read somewhere or something that was said to you. And it seems to stay on in your mind and become a guiding force. Has that happened to you?
Just the other day, a dear friend of mine – a retired brigadier – was narrating the story of how a line he heard many, many years ago impacted him deeply and shaped his life.
It was his first week in the army. He had just completed his engineering course and joined the army. Amongst his colleagues in the army were several young men who had come through the National Deference Academy. Not engineers, but men exposed to the tough physical conditioning so essential for success in the armed forces.
It was a Sunday morning. The task ahead was rather simple. They had to run ten miles. My friend recalls having started enthusiastically, and then quickly tiring out. After running half the distance, he felt he couldn’t continue any longer. He felt his legs would fold up and he’d collapse. And just as he was about to give up and stop, he heard his commanding officer say to him, ‘Come on, young man. Until now you’have been running with your legs. Now run with your mind!’ Those words seemed to work like magic. While my friend doesn’t quite recall what happened thereafter, al he remembers is that he kept running. He finished the entire ten-mile run. And to this day, he often hears the officer’s words echoing in his mind. ‘Don’t run just with your legs. Run with your mind.’ It’s been the motto that’s inspired him through everything he’s done in his life ever since.
And it’s a line we would all do well to remember. Success in life is not defined by talent and physical ability, but by the mental strength to stay the course and run the extra mile. When you run with your legs, you allow the pressures to weigh you down. You allow obstacles to come in the way of your progress. You find yourself saying, ‘I can’t’! But when you run with your mind, you become unstoppable. Your mind says, ‘I can!’
Take Soichiro for instance. He was a Japanese Engineer who dreamed of a career in the automobile industry. He applied for a job with the iconic Toyota Motor Corporation but was rejected. He remained jobless for a long time, and the temptation to give up on the automotive dream and take up a non-automotive job any job – was huge. He then tried making scooters at home. But he had no money. His caring neighbours contributed their mite to fund his enterprise. Thus was born the Honda Motor Company. Had Soichiro (Honda was his surname) run merely with his legs, he’d have given up long ago. And a Honda may never have hit the roads.
Then there’s the story of Colonel Sanders. He ran a modestly successful restaurant serving some chicken dishes – until the construction of a new road put him out of business. He decided to try and sell his unique chicken recipes to other restaurants. He met over a thousand restaurant owners and they all turned him down. But the Colonel didn’t give up. He kept on trying. On his one thousand and nineteenth call, one restaurant owner agreed to buy his recipe. This gave birth to the world’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. Soon KFCs were opening up allover world. Just seven years after he started the first KFC, Colonel Sanders sold his business for over 15 million dollars. Clearly, running on your mind can be rewarding!
The next time you are staring at failure and rejection and want to quit, think of Honda and KFC. Stay the course. Don’t give up. And at all times, remember the officer’s line : Don’t run just with your legs. Run with your mind!
Success in life is not defined by talent and physical ability, but by the mental strength to stay the course and run the extra mile. When you run with your legs, you allow the pressures to weigh you down. You allow obstacles to come in the way of your progress. You find yourself saying, ‘I can’t!’ But when you run with your mind, you become unstoppable. Your mind says, ‘I can!’
Sometimes one single line can make a huge difference to your life. It could be something you’ve read somewhere or something that was said to you. And it seems to stay on in your mind and become a guiding force. Has that happened to you?
Just the other day, a dear friend of mine – a retired brigadier – was narrating the story of how a line he heard many, many years ago impacted him deeply and shaped his life.
It was his first week in the army. He had just completed his engineering course and joined the army. Amongst his colleagues in the army were several young men who had come through the National Deference Academy. Not engineers, but men exposed to the tough physical conditioning so essential for success in the armed forces.
It was a Sunday morning. The task ahead was rather simple. They had to run ten miles. My friend recalls having started enthusiastically, and then quickly tiring out. After running half the distance, he felt he couldn’t continue any longer. He felt his legs would fold up and he’d collapse. And just as he was about to give up and stop, he heard his commanding officer say to him, ‘Come on, young man. Until now you’have been running with your legs. Now run with your mind!’ Those words seemed to work like magic. While my friend doesn’t quite recall what happened thereafter, al he remembers is that he kept running. He finished the entire ten-mile run. And to this day, he often hears the officer’s words echoing in his mind. ‘Don’t run just with your legs. Run with your mind.’ It’s been the motto that’s inspired him through everything he’s done in his life ever since.
And it’s a line we would all do well to remember. Success in life is not defined by talent and physical ability, but by the mental strength to stay the course and run the extra mile. When you run with your legs, you allow the pressures to weigh you down. You allow obstacles to come in the way of your progress. You find yourself saying, ‘I can’t’! But when you run with your mind, you become unstoppable. Your mind says, ‘I can!’
Take Soichiro for instance. He was a Japanese Engineer who dreamed of a career in the automobile industry. He applied for a job with the iconic Toyota Motor Corporation but was rejected. He remained jobless for a long time, and the temptation to give up on the automotive dream and take up a non-automotive job any job – was huge. He then tried making scooters at home. But he had no money. His caring neighbours contributed their mite to fund his enterprise. Thus was born the Honda Motor Company. Had Soichiro (Honda was his surname) run merely with his legs, he’d have given up long ago. And a Honda may never have hit the roads.
Then there’s the story of Colonel Sanders. He ran a modestly successful restaurant serving some chicken dishes – until the construction of a new road put him out of business. He decided to try and sell his unique chicken recipes to other restaurants. He met over a thousand restaurant owners and they all turned him down. But the Colonel didn’t give up. He kept on trying. On his one thousand and nineteenth call, one restaurant owner agreed to buy his recipe. This gave birth to the world’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. Soon KFCs were opening up allover world. Just seven years after he started the first KFC, Colonel Sanders sold his business for over 15 million dollars. Clearly, running on your mind can be rewarding!
The next time you are staring at failure and rejection and want to quit, think of Honda and KFC. Stay the course. Don’t give up. And at all times, remember the officer’s line : Don’t run just with your legs. Run with your mind!
Success in life is not defined by talent and physical ability, but by the mental strength to stay the course and run the extra mile. When you run with your legs, you allow the pressures to weigh you down. You allow obstacles to come in the way of your progress. You find yourself saying, ‘I can’t!’ But when you run with your mind, you become unstoppable. Your mind says, ‘I can!’