My personal mantra is be-the-brand. What is our brand?

Marilyn sent me this TED video on leadership. It’s 18 minutes long and worth your time. Whether we realize it or not, we are leaders of our own destiny. I watched the video to better understand how I set personal goals.

A powerful mission statement inside our heads makes decisions easier to sustain. One of my favorite questions is, “What’s the goal?”

The least satisfied champions are the ones that focus solely on split times and winning. Satisfaction is a feeling, not a number.

A life with meaning is the result of directed action:

• Mission gives clarity for decisions.
• Decisions drive actions.
• Actions create emotions.
• Meaning, serenity, satisfaction, joy, happiness — all are emotions.

So what’s my message to you?

If you are drawn to an athletic life then 99% of what you are exposed to is noise, not information. A clear personal mission gives you a lens through which you can filter out the noise.

Our goal with Endurance Corner is to present what matters — for your health and long-term performance. Apply what we share and you will outperform.

But what is performance?

Performance is not one race, or one season.

I’ve seen the void that results when physical self-expression ceases to be an option. Particularly in elite athletics, poor choices can be accepted, even glorified, when athletes are winning.

Performance is a journey we follow our entire lives. Many of the highest performers in our sport, ultimately, impair their health. That’s their decision to make; it doesn’t need to be your decision.

Whether you read our articles, or train alongside us, hopefully we can be a positive influence on your journey.

With your peers, training approach and media sources, remember that you have a choice.