Welcome to innovation sports and life. This is your friend Hemang. First off, an apology with all of you. I then share why I like this intersection of innovation and sports and why do I think it really applies to how we live our lives.
You see, any time we are involved in intense physical activity. For example, running. I used to be a long distance runner. And now again getting back to it. And I've run half marathons before I've done one full marathon, but I'm getting back to the, you know, roughly, say, five miles six mile kind of distance. To me that's a comfortable, average run, and always. Over the years, one thing has stood out. The first couple of kilometers, or the first couple of miles are the hardest. And it's all in your head, know the distance conversion from miles to kilometers doesn't really make a difference. The first two units of whatever distance you're going to run is where you are trying to get rid of the contents, you might be feeling no really low before you're starting your run. And then, then it takes your body some time to warm up before you're in the full flow of things. And overtime as you keep on running. You might get the feeling that I have to give up. Today is not the day it's either too hot. I'm not feeling like running. There's something bothering me, am I picking up a niggle, it's all these thoughts which are flooding your head. In terms of time. For me that is around the 10 to 15 minute mark. And once I crossed that. It's amazing. It's like I'm in the flow of things. To me that is the distance where I do not need to listen to any music. Most of my runs are when I'm just running by myself. I don't need a TV I don't need a screen. I've run in front of blank walls also. But, and always it is this first 10 to 15 minutes, where I've got to get rid of all the cobwebs in my head. And after that, I tend to enter a state of flow. That's where, sometimes I don't even realize how much I'm running until I happen to look at the clock, or if I'm on a treadmill, I haven't happened to look at the distance and the timer and all that. And it's kind of the same thing with other sports. Also, I've played different sports over the years, but the ones I've really enjoyed include tennis, squash, Dragon Boat Racing, which I'll share with you at a later date. But what makes that so special.
And whenever you are me get involved in a deep physical activity. We all enter the state of flow. We are in unity with ourselves. We seem to be pushing doing as much as we physically want to. And often, that is paired with great, and a heightened sense of awareness. No most innovations tend to come out from a similar state of mind, your deepest work your best work tends to also come. When you reach this state, where you've gotten rid of all this junk in your head you filter through all that, and now you're swimming in clear water. That's why I really love this marriage of innovation and sports, why I believe sports is so helpful to understand how we work, how we operate in our daily lives. And once you get to that state in a physical activity. You figured out that if I have to do something better in my work. If I have to innovate a better way of working, or creating a better product. I have to get to that very state. I have to get rid of all the cobwebs, all the junk, which is there at the superficial level. And that's when I enter that deep area where magic happens. And our life. Also, is dependent on that, on us getting rid of all the junk getting past it, that we can connect with the things that truly matter to us in our hearts. To me that is what the marriage of innovation, sports, and life is all about. I wish you all very happy thinking. Take time to connect with yourself. Take time to get past the junk, because that's where magic happens. See you next time.