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“Escape competition through authenticity.”
Naval Ravikant
Five days after he won the 2016 Formula 1 world title, Nico Rosberg retired.
“This season, I tell you, it was so damn tough,” he said. “I pushed like crazy in every area.”
Why push that hard, then walk away?
Nico spent 2016 in a race with his teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
- Since each kilo of body weight cost Nico about 0.04 seconds a lap, he quit cycling to shed leg muscle.
- He meditated for 45 minutes each morning and again each evening.
- Some days he spent about two hours with a mental coach.
Each race hands out points by finishing place: 25 for a win, 18 for second.
After 21 races, Nico won the title by five points.
“To beat Lewis I had to throw everything at it,” he said. “I’m not willing to put that sacrifice into it again next year, so it’s the best moment to stop.”
Had Nico lost in 2016, somebody else would have taken the title. Haruki Murakami’s novels have one possible author.
Murakami writes ten pages a day.
He also runs marathons. In his book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, he wrote, “In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be.”
On days he wants to write more, he stops at ten pages anyway.
In 2013 more than 100 fans lined up at midnight outside a Tokyo bookstore for his new novel.
To beat a rival, you keep pushing even as each extra push gains you less ground.
When you’re the only one in your lane, start with your minimum effective dose: the smallest push that still gains you ground.
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What race could you leave for a lane of your own?
