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Happiness and Success in Life

You are here: Home / Coaching / Happiness and Success in Life
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July 29, 2011 by Jimson Lee 10 Comments

Last Updated on November 21, 2011 by Jimson Lee

If you’ve followed this Blog for a while, you’ll notice a subliminal message behind the articles.

Since I turned 48 years old today, I’m probably old enough to be your father for half my readers (based on the Internet stats and demographics)

Behind all the training and nutrition tips, and all the post race analysis, there’s an underlying message here on SpeedEndurance:

Stay in School, and there’s more to life than Track and Field. 

When you lose, don’t be too sad, but when you win, don’t be too happy.  I really dislike the showboat stuff (sorry Usain), but if it helps with the audience and TV ratings, then I guess it’s okay.  We all have to pay the bills somehow.

You see, that’s what old geezers like to do… give advice to the young folks.

Happiness and Success

You’ll notice the tag line for this Blog from Day 1, even if it doesn’t have a logo: 

Success in Tack and Field… and Life.

Here’s a quote from a famous person who stole the quote from someone else (doesn’t everyone steal from everyone else?  Clyde Hart does!)

I’ll sum up my thoughts on happiness in 2 lines:

Happiness and Success in life are not the result of what we have, but rather of how we live.

What we do with the things we have makes the biggest difference in the quality of life.

How to Live the Lifestyle you Desire

This is my creed, similar to what John Wooden’s father gave him when he was a little boy.  These are the 4 points I lead my life:

  1. Philosophy  – how you think.  I am a Buddhist (it’s NOT a religion) and I follow the works of the Dalai Lama.
  2. Philanthropy – help others a lending hand.  At a minimum, give back 1% of your time, money and equity back to the people.  (This is easy to do, especially when you have no money, no equity and no time!  Marc Benioff, are you reading this?)
  3. Attitude & Reaction – Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% on how you react to it.  See my old attitude article back in 2007.  In life, you will be dealt issues outside of your comfort zone.  How to react to it, especially in front of your children, will make a big impact on everyone.
  4. Results – measure often to see if you are making progress. What you measure, you can improve.
See also  What Do You Do with Old Running Shoes?

So what is the end result?

A Lifestyle – the kind of life you can make for yourself out of the first 4 points above.

If you’ve read this far, congrats, because it shows you have the ambition and desire to improve all aspects of your life.  And not just on the track, though I enjoy every personal victory, even if it means a PB on the track!

Category iconCoaching,  Commentary,  Life & Culture,  Success,  Witty

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pat Charles says

    July 29, 2011 at 4:46 am

    Happy Birthday!! Thank you for the fact of this website for coaches like me, and re-aspiring athletes like me, who ‘know it’ but still need to touch base with someone else.

    Your current series on achilles tendonitis is timely in a clairvoyant way: how did you know that was exactly what I was developing (and getting a bit stubborn to admit, though I did start resting about 8 days ago).

    Your website is excellent, and I always refer my athletes to it to read for themselves the rationale behind workouts, and to see examples of the effort needed for their success. Thanks once again.

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      July 29, 2011 at 5:11 am

      Thanks Pat. It’s incredible the amount of emails, facebook feedback and comments on this topic. I guess I touched a “nerve”. I wrote about Hamstring pulls a while back and never got that kind of response. The Achilles series is looking like a 8 or 9 part series.

      Reply
  2. buzooti says

    July 29, 2011 at 11:31 am

    Happy Birthday Jimson!

    Thank you for all the useful information.

    Enjoy your day.

    Reply
  3. Harry says

    July 29, 2011 at 1:56 pm

    Happy Birthday Jimson! I agree with everything you said and it is never too late to change one’s life.

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      July 30, 2011 at 3:14 am

      @Harry, @buzooti, thanks! Onwards and Upwards.

      Reply
  4. Fred says

    July 29, 2011 at 7:36 pm

    Buon compleanno Jimson! You’re only 48?! You’ve got at least another 5 decades of sprinting! Best wishes and thanks millions for all you’ve given us. Look forward to reading your posts for another 48 years! Mangi la pasta e la torta e bevi il vino ed il caffè!

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      July 30, 2011 at 1:20 am

      @Fred, thanks for the Italian wishes, and believe me, I’ve been living “La Dolce Vita” for the last 2 years. Caffé & corneti for colazione, pasta for pranzo, and pizza for cena. It’s surprising I’m not overweight yet.

      Reply
  5. Chris Coy says

    July 29, 2011 at 11:56 pm

    Happy Birthday! “Don’t be too sad when you lose. Don’t be too happy when you win.” Classic Dennis Barrett–and I tell it to my athletes all the time! Here’s another good one: “When you lose, go home, get a good rest, and come back the next day. When you win, go home, get a good rest, and come back the next day.” That’s track, and that’s life. Have a good one.

    Chris

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      July 30, 2011 at 1:04 am

      @Chris, yes, that quote actually came from you which came from Dennis after that horrible 400 meters at U of Vermont back in 1984 (or 1985?) 1 turn stagger on a clay track. I think we ran 55 that day?

      Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      July 30, 2011 at 1:13 am

      Here’s a great quote from John Smith of HSI:

      “A true champion, when they lose, they don’t get defeated. They get inspired by their loss. It makes them come back to practce. They can’t wait to get to the track. They blame no one.”

      Reply

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