Knowing when to listen to your body and when to ignore it is the difference between personal excellence and personal harm.
In no domain is this seen better than in sports.
A domain where the body needs to be pushed to its breaking point, but not to actually break it. Because while reaching the breaking point stretches and strengthens the body, breaking it strains and weakens it.
The difference is subtle, but it is noticeable and trainable.
It is not the body that first says stop. It is the mind. So the trick is to push the body beyond the mind’s screams until its chatter stops. Then it frees up space for you to listen only to the body, and its feedback to stop is a much gentler tone that is difficult to miss.
Another domain where it can be observed is in reading.
I was reading a book the other day, and on the first paragraph, my mind was already screaming about all the other things I should be doing, including resting. I smiled to acknowledge it but kept on reading, and I was grateful for it, because I learned in the next few minutes something I had struggled to put into words for years.
But a few hours in, I started feeling sleepy. I again tried to fight it, believing it was another chatter from the mind, but this was a gentler nudge. The words were getting blurry, and I was drifting in and out of sentences. I gave in to the lure of slumber from the body, and by the time I woke up, I was so much sharper than I was when I started reading.
In reading, when the mind tells you to take a break, it does not ever re-energize your return. But when the body tells you to take a break, it refreshes you to an energy level higher than the start of your reading.
The body knows the breaking point, and it tells you. You can only miss it if the mind’s chatter keeps on going without end. Focus the mind on the goal, and it will have less time for chatter. Without a goal, the chatterbox is the greatest enabler of harm.
– Osasu Oviawe