5 tactics to build your 'override' system
When things don't go as planned, these fundamentals can help you stay in control.
Warmup
Spoiler Alert: Before this post is over, I will have reversed-course on my feelings about sticky notes posted to the bathroom mirror. (Hint: I was against them.)
But being open to change at any age is what the N2L (Not Too Late) community is all about. And that includes, I suppose, sticky notes.
Speaking of things that can change us, a reminder that Spartan Race, the world’s largest obstacle course racing company, right now is offering a FREE RACE of any length in 2024 or 2025 to people who purchase a copy of my new book, NOT TOO LATE.
This offer is good even if you’ve already purchased the book. And if obstacle course racing isn’t your jam, give the code to someone who might like to give it a go!
(Click button below to get your code; available while supplies last.)
Summary
You’ve likely heard this quote before.
“Everyone has a plan ’til they get punched in the mouth.” ~ often attributed to Mike Tyson
We can plan all we want. For a critical work presentation. For a funding pitch. For a job interview. A first date. A big race.
Planning is incredibly important. But if you get that metaphorical “punch,” it might not be enough.
The CEO asks you an irrelevant question you didn’t plan for—just to throw you off your game.
The funder says your big idea is a knock-off of someone else’s they are backing.
The interviewer asks how you’d get out of a glass jar if you were stuck inside with only a paper clip and some lip balm. (This kind of question actually happens.)
The first date shows up with her sister. (Weird, but it also apparently happens.)
You wake up feeling like total crap and your mind implores you, DO NOT GO TO THE STARTING LINE.
The plan is out the window. Now you need an “override” system to take control.
Let’s get it done.
Post
This past weekend, I discovered I actually have an override system. This was a first for me. And eye-opening.
It happened in the beautiful, rugged mountains of Utah where I ran a 13+ mile obstacle course race that was the final race this year of three competitions that comprised Spartan’s US National Series.
This was an important race for me. Finishing and doing well would mean I’d become the US National Series champion for my age group (50-54). (I’d placed first in the previous two races.)
For anyone who’s read my book, NOT TOO LATE, you’ll know this situation was utterly unthinkable six years ago. As likely as my piloting a spacecraft to Mars or singing at the Grammy’s.
Now, it was right there dangling in front of me.
The problem was — I didn’t feel like racing. At all.
Everything in my body ached. I couldn’t discern if I was actually sick, rundown or just in a really bad headspace.
My mind churned in a loop of negative thoughts thinking about the hours of discomfort I’d soon face on the course. The 4,000 feet of elevation. The rocky terrain. The oppressive July heat.
Driving to the venue at 5:30 am, I wanted to turn around and go back to my bed at the hotel. I gripped the wheel until my knuckles turned white so I wouldn’t.
At the venue, I literally sat in my Toyota 4Runner rental trapped in this mental morass until the last possible minute before my body just overrode my brain and carried me the starting line.
This was new for me — as was what happened over the next five hours. And it taught me some very valuable lessons I’ll be bringing to my work and the rest of life.
An “override” system
One of Cambridge dictionary’s definitions of the word “override” is:
…to take control over something, especially in order to change the way it operates
Eg: The pills are designed to override your body's own hormones.
You also may have heard this next quote before. It’s often attributed to the Navy SEALs or a Greek poet — i.e., not a boxer who once bit off a piece someone’s ear.
Under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to your level of training.
This is to say that in a moment of deep uncertainty, chaos, pain, or doubt — your outcome will be a result of all of the previous little steps, work and practice you’ve amassed.
That’s your override system kicking in.
5 tactics to build your system
Make yourself accountable
Ok, now for my sticky note 180. I have never understood why people put sticky notes on their bathroom mirrors with quotes or goals. I was always like, if you want to do something, just do it.
But I was really worried about the Utah race. I hadn’t completed that distance since 2022. The heat unnerved me. I was looking for something to make me feel in control. One day a few weeks ago, I jotted this down on a pink sticky note in my office:
Utah
10 pullups a day
Sauna 4x a week
I figured if I could do those two things, I’d be in better shape. (I’d read in Alex Hutchinson’s Sweat Science column about the value of raising your core temp during training to run better in heat.)
And then, I caved and stuck the sticky note on my bathroom mirror. I mean, if it worked for other people …
And you know what, even if it was 10:30 at night and I was brushing my teeth right before bed, if I had three more pull-ups to do, I went downstairs and did them.
Whatever it takes to hold yourself accountable and build some control when you face a big challenge, swallow your pride and do it.
Learn deep practice
It’s really important to learn and practice in the proper way, which often means unlearning things you are doing wrong and training your brain to fire in the proper way.
In other words, just doing something the same way you’ve always done it might be practicing, but its not “deep practice.” And it won’t necessarily make you better.
Here, I’m going to recommend you pick up Daniel Coyle’s book “The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How.” I cite his work in NOT TOO LATE, but if you are serious about building an override system, you’ll want to dive deeper — and this book really unpacks the power, science and art of “deep practice.”
I’ve come to believe we can use these deep practice tactics to make us better in all sorts of ways that might not seem immediately obvious:
Our relationships (practicing being well-versed in enough divergent topics to pivot and make meaningful small talk with your date’s sister)
Our work (throw me a curveball question, and I’ll know how to hit that curveball by turning it around and asking another provocative question in return)
Our volunteerism (my best friend is a volunteer firefighter; he drills more than he actually puts out fires. Which means he’ll be ready when something dangerous truly happens)
Define your “non-negotiable”
If you want to be good or great at something, your training needs to be non-negotiable. Meaning, it is as much a staple of your day as brushing your teeth (hope that’s a staple) or hugging your kids goodnight (assume that one is).
The more you build training/deep practice of any sort — for work, a pastime, a sport — into the fabric of your day and make it something that’s not just inserted “whenever I can find time,” the more you’ll strengthen your override system.
This means you’ll need to get rid of things that truly are “negotiable” in your life. Make a list and see what you can move from one column to another. (Seriously, make a list.)
In my case, I moved watching TV, absentminded scrolling on social media, and random social invitations from people I kind of liked to “negotiable” to make room for my training.
Mind the small details
In a moment where you get punched in the face, are your feet and legs steady enough to hold you up until you can get clear of the person swinging?
I mean this metaphorically and literally.
What are tiniest details you can work on that strengthen your override system? Do you know how to tell a joke in a tense situation? Have you studied the marketplace for your product so deeply that you know the funder is just bluffing about your product being a knock-off. Have you researched the company interviewing you enough to know the answer to their stupid glass jar question?
If you’ve been working on the little things consistently — in the boxing example, toe strength, ankle mobility, glute stability, pain tolerance — then you’ve got a fighting chance to keep standing until the bell rings.
Make training accessible
Whatever it is you want to get better at, don’t make it hard to practice. A few examples:
Community helps. Find like-minded people who can work with you online or in person. (This also helps with accountability.)
Don’t fall victim to thinking you need fancy systems, equipment or places to train.
If you want to get better at public speaking so you don’t get derailed if someone heckles you, practice in front of your family at the dinner table and have them try to throw you off your game.
When I got started training for obstacle course racing, I worked out in my backyard and filled a $4.48 bucket from Home Depot with 40 lbs. of rock salt to carry around our neighborhood.
The closest gym was 20 minutes away. Home was closer.
Body over mind, finally
As a latecomer to competitive athletics, I’d always depended on my mind to override a not-so-strong body.
But finally, at age 52, the tide turned. And my body did what my mind could not on Saturday at the Snowbasin Resort in Utah. It kicked into override mode.
It ran when I didn’t believe I could run on such unstable terrain.
It lifted me over walls I thought I was too tired to scale.
It hoisted me up a 17-foot rope right at the finish when I was slippery and wet from a mud pit and sure I would fall.
It carried me across the finish line into second place that day, securing my spot as the overall Spartan U.S. National Series champion for my age group.
Cooldown
It wasn’t just the past two months of meticulous training to prepare specifically for the Utah race that kicked in when my mind said: DON’T RACE.
The sticky note helped. But it was like extra credit.
Instead, it was the six years of deep practice, learning and unlearning and training on how to be a better racer, that overrode everything in that moment.
Every monotonous mobility exercise to strengthen my ankles, hips and feet, which kept me from twisting my ankle on the descents.
The countless YouTube videos I watched on obstacle technique, which made performance rote on a day when my confidence waned.
The long two-hour Saturday morning runs in the rain when I wanted to stay in bed.
The Spartan training seminars I attended around the country to glean a small advantage on how to approach an obstacle properly.
The rope I hung in my backyard so training was just outside my front door.
Making this a priority amid all of life’s other pressures.
Thanks for the gift of your time. As always, find something you love. Dig in. Stick with it when things get hard. Build your override system. Trust it.
Wendy