This book caught my attention because of its unusual title and the personality of the author. Ultramindset is the word Travis Macy, the ultramarathon athlete who can run 100 miles, or run part, swim part, and bike part, is the word he uses to describe the incredible motivation to win that is necessary to overcome these same 100 miles without leaving the race, despite the monstrous pain in the body and the incredible temptations of the mind.

Perhaps I will not be mistaken if I say that for 99.9% of those reading these lines, running 100 miles is physically impossible. Even a few people can run 42 kilometers 195 meters, the official marathon distance. 10 kilometers may seem like nothing to those who regularly run such distances, but for others, it requires serious preparation. 5 kilometers looks even easier.. 3 is even simpler, for everyone except the author of these lines, who last ran this distance at school, and honestly got 3 points out of 5 for it (yes, at that time I could still pull up 10 once!).

By the way, Pyotr Bolotnikov, Olympic champion of the 1960 Rome Olympics (think about that number!), in his book “ The Last Circle ” talks about his first and only experience of running a marathon. At that time, he served in the army, and was in good shape, taking second place at the USSR Armed Forces Championship at a distance of 30 kilometers. The 42-kilometer distance, however, required completely different preparation – having run it to the end, and having experienced incredible suffering, he decided not to participate in such races in the future. He later estimated the amount of time it takes a good (!) runner to get into shape for a marathon at one and a half years (!!).

Interesting detail. In the chapter about the marathon, Bolotnikov mentions an extraordinary participant in the race, plasterer Tishchenko, who flew to Moscow from Almaty. I quote: “Having learned about the marathon, he urgently took a vacation, bought a ticket, spent two days shaking on the road almost across the whole country, didn’t really eat, didn’t sleep so that he could run along the road for two and a half hours, sweating and enduring pain.” This phrase holds the key to understanding the motivation of marathon runners. Sitting on the sofa in front of the TV, you can’t understand them!

Tishchenko was from Almaty. Travis Macy is from the Rocky Mountains. Since childhood, he participated in long-distance races, seeing the example of his father as a runner and training in high altitude conditions. However, good athletic genes, regular training, and proper nutrition are not sufficient on their own. To win an ultramarathon, you must first defeat yourself, and develop an incredible will to win. Let’s look at the components of this will, or, as Travis Macy called them, the principles of ultra-thinking.

Principle 1. “This is good psychological training”

When it’s difficult, tell yourself “This is good psychological training” and keep moving forward. Self-control can be developed in the same way that muscles are trained.

Difficulties are an integral part of our life. Every experience teaches you something. If the experience was bad, well, that’s good psychological training.

For example, the boss returned the report for revision for the third time. Does he constantly find fault with little things? He finds fault – there is a reason to look for another boss, but before that, the necessary corrections must be made quickly and clearly. We tell ourselves – “this is good psychological training!” – and we do.

An exercise you can do is to find your three biggest challenges or problems at the moment, write down what bothers you about each of them, and then re-evaluate, starting with the words “This is good psychological training because…”. Expand your comfort zone!🙂

Principle 2: Find a role model for yourself.

Try to be closer to people you would like to be like. “Charge” them with the right goals, and support each other in achieving these goals.

A book to delves further into the topic is Carol Dweck’s The Flexible Mind, which focuses on the idea of ​​continuous self-improvement as a key component of success and prosperity. Compare two attitudes: a fixed consciousness – “I really want to be like them, but they are special people” and a flexible consciousness – “These people worked a lot to achieve what they have! By watching them succeed, I can learn the necessary actions and repeat them.”

What’s next? Think about who you want to be like. Why? Do you have common goals, and what are they? How can you follow this person’s progress and become closer to him?

Please note that we are not talking about correspondence dating. You need to personally meet and make friends with these people – this is the only way you can truly get help and support from them, and answer them in kind.

Principle 3: Find appropriate extrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation factors can help you cope when you lose self-control. Intrinsic motivation may fail when you stop enjoying what you do. External factors – money, material values, fame, and admiration – will help you continue what you started.

Moreover, there may be an interdependence between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation: extrinsic rewards provide a sense of self-competence, which helps increase intrinsic motivation. What if you run 20 miles on Sunday to get 85 likes on your finish photo on Facebook?

To get a better understanding of motivation, Macy recommends engaging in self-reflection and finding the three most important activities in your life. Then continue the sentences for each of them:

• I feel internally motivated to do this activity because…;
• But I can get tired of this internal motivation when…;
• When this happens, I can tap into external motivation by telling myself….

As an exercise, Macy suggests running in snowshoes in the mountains. Who is first?..

Principle 4: Ask for help!

Perseverance and self-belief are needed to achieve big goals. However, when you lack experience and business acumen, and have more than enough confidence in your abilities, put your ego aside and seek help from others!

Ego has nothing to do with arrogance, rudeness, or victories at the expense of others. What Macy said next illustrates the workings of the mature ego: “With careful planning, a positive attitude, and unyielding determination, I can achieve anything. I might lose and have to start from scratch. It may take time, and things may not go according to plan, but I will succeed because I believe in myself and my strength.”

However, ego alone will not get you far. Help from others will help you be even more successful. Answering a few simple questions will help you understand this:

• What are your goals?
• How will you achieve them?
• Why do you believe in yourself? What qualities do you think will help you achieve these goals?
• What help would you need in achieving your goal?
• Who can you ask for it?
• How will you do this?

Principle 5. Switching between “what” and “why”

There are two useful internal programs: thinking about what you do when attention to detail is required and thinking about why you are doing it when your strength leaves you and you are ready to abandon the plan.

Heidi Grant Halvorson in her book The Psychology of Achievement. Succeeded: How We Can Reach Our Goals explains these mechanisms this way: “Think about your goals in terms of WHY, when you need a push to action, you need to stay motivated or avoid temptations. Consider your goals in terms of WHAT when faced with something particularly difficult, unfamiliar, or time-consuming.”

The self-assessment task is to select why- and what- situations for the conditions “at work”, “at home”, “raising children”, “scientific work”, and “exercises, training, and competitions”. Just write down a few situations of each type for each condition.

An exercise to develop the skill of switching to the desired states – sports training. Macy suggests consciously adding new elements to training in any sport, having worked them out first.

Principle 6. “The 4:30 a.m. Rule”

It doesn’t matter if it’s 4:30 a.m. or not. If the alarm clock you set the night before rings, you need to get up and get down to business, carrying out the decision you made, no matter the circumstances.

Between working as a lawyer, raising young children, and running ultramarathons, Travis Macy’s father found a schedule that allowed him to get it all done. He would get up at 4:30 a.m., work there until lunch, then go for a run at lunch, go back to the office for a few hours, ride a section of the mountain bike trail on the way home, and then take care of the kids in the evening. And now, when he is over 60, he continues to live in this mode, except that he gets up a little earlier, at 4 in the morning.

For reflection that will be helpful in making the 4:30 a.m. rule work, Macy suggests filling out a chart with the following columns:

• The task you want to complete
• Why is it important
• Why is it difficult to do this at the right time?
• How do you make such a commitment and how will you follow it, even against your will (and what will you tell yourself when it becomes difficult to force yourself)
• How are you responsible for execution?

As an exercise, it is suggested… of course, jogging at dawn. Medium pace, from 50 to 120 minutes on any surface, until the sun rises. You can run with a partner; It will be easier to start knowing that someone is counting on you. Make a motivator sign in advance, and don’t forget to include a cup of morning coffee and a banana before your run. Have a good day!

Principle 7. Rewrite negative stories with positive ones

Negative stories are just words, nothing more. By replacing them, telling yourself “I am getting stronger with every step” instead of “I can’t take another step,” you can direct your internal dialogue in the right direction.

Sounds simple. In practice, negative stories are usually constantly played in the background by your brain, reflecting your worries and fears. By replacing self-examination and criticism with confidence and positivity, you can make stunning changes in your life. For this:

1. Write down your negative story
2. We re-read it several times. We realize that this is just a story that you don’t have to believe.
3. Write down positive alternatives.
4. Turning positive alternatives into a mantra. We write it down, talk it out, and hang it in a visible place. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
5. We determine what to do to prove to ourselves that the truth is in a positive story, and not in a negative one.
6. We repeat the above steps as many times as necessary. Many times. If necessary, for many years.

Positive alternatives may also turn out to be suboptimal and irrelevant, in which case it makes sense to continue the search!🙂

Here Macy quotes Seth Godin’s book “The Icarus Deception”, which has a fun way of writing a problem on one side of cards and then having another person write the solution on the back. In this case, the problem, even if it is not solved, will become clearer. If the problem is unsolvable, you can let it go and switch to what you can do.

In conclusion, Travis Macy suggests the Hour of Power exercise for psychological relaxation. It doesn’t matter where and when exactly – it’s important how: to warm up, run (drive, push a stroller, push a bicycle trailer, etc.) for 20 minutes, then move at a very intense pace (3..4 on a 5-point scale) for another 20 minutes. By the end of this stage, you should be breathing heavily and speaking only in short sentences. Then, in the third stage, cool down for the last 20 minutes, when your thoughts become clear and free from confusion, think through your stories. You may gain a new perspective on things!

Principle 8: Never give up… but there are exceptions

Fear is one of the conditions for success. If fear gets in the way, you need to push your limits and grow as a person. You should never give up out of fear that something will not work out. However, you need to listen to your true desires and aspirations; perhaps you should give up what goes against them. Overcoming fear and living a full and meaningful life is true courage.

Macy then quotes Jim Collins, who, in Good to Great: Why Some Companies Breakthrough and Others Don’t, lists the things you need to give up to become great. For example, hiring an accountant for a small company. Perhaps you too have grown out of your pants?

Another tip: There are three options for achieving your highest goals: face your fears, stop going with the flow, and stop failing regularly. Here Travis Macy refers to William Deresiewicz’s book ( William Deresiewicz, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life ), which in turn raises the question of the misdirection of higher education. The book is written about America, but the problem is widespread: instead of helping to develop a holistic, deep personality, elite colleges and universities are preparing risk-averse students for smooth future careers.

At the end of the corresponding chapter, Travis Macy suggests reflecting and assessing your fears in three stages in order to get rid of them. Let’s go through this exercise together! First, write down the change you would like to make. “I want ________”. Further:

1. We list our fears: “I’m afraid to do this because ______.”
2. For each of these fears, we write a story in which fear finds its role and is the cause of something.
3. We divide stories into positive and negative. If there are not enough positive stories, we urgently add them! If there are still a few of them, perhaps it makes sense to turn to a friend or consider options for refusing to change.

The end!🙂