The Corporate Athlete: The Rule of Thirds

It feels like Summer! Schools are out. Summer break plans are gearing up and schedules are all changing, right? It has me thinking about seasons - seasons of life, seasons of training, seasons of career. As you know I am in a season of change with our move and embracing all the (organized) chaos that comes along with this season. It had me thinking about a rule that I leaned on heavily in my marathon training, and in my corporate career - the Rule of Thirds.

I was introduced to the Rule of Thirds while reading Alexi Pappas’ book Bravey and it completely rocked my world! (If you haven’t read Bravey, I highly recommend it.) She was introduced to this rule by her Olympic coach during her Rio Olympic training season.

To summarize the Rule of Thirds - whether it be in life, training, career chapters:

• 1/3 of the time, you are going to feel ok

• 1/3 of the time, you are going to feel good

• 1/3 of the time, you are going to feel crappy

When you are on the road of doing hard things - ask yourself, am I in balance with this rule? If not, what area is feeling bigger? How can you adjust your ratio if you are feeling out of balance?

Perhaps things are feeling mostly in the ok to good range - this could be a sign that you are living in your comfort zone and maybe it’s time to nudge yourself into more of a stretch zone (remember our previous stack on this topic?)

If you are looking to expand into your stretch zone - what could you do to scratch that itch? Maybe you are teeing up a promotion at work. What are some of the experiences a person in that role would do? Ask your boss, mentor, or someone in that role for the opportunity to shadow or help them with the next task/project/meeting. Try it on! Maybe you signed up for a new race, or physical challenge - congrats! Same goes here, do you have a coach or club you could work with to help build your practice and training? What more can you learn about this effort? Sharing this learning experience can be an incredible way to bond with your colleagues, teammates, or peers in your sport.

Sometimes life feels more on the crappy side. Take a minute and acknowledge that it’s ok to feel not great. Challenging times can be a catalyst for change, while still being hard. This is why we have the Rule of Thirds to help us realize we will not be 100% one feeling all the time, and that you will move through these feelings with fluidity.

When things feel heavy or hard, I often look for micro steps I can do that bring joy - glimmers if you will. What are some things you can do that bring a glimmer to your day/task/workout?

Maybe in your next warmup you revisit a childhood play activity to make you giggle - try juggling while you balance on one foot - hello stability activation, and I can guarantee you will laugh at yourself too as you drop a ball and wiggle trying to keep balance. Jumprope, hula hoop, skips are fun play like warm ups before physical activities, or even a shake it off dance (read: singing TSwift song [or favorite song] and dancing around/literally shaking it off) before your next meeting can instantly change your mood.

It’s also important to bring awareness to the things that are making you feel crappy. Can you label them? Evaluate what’s on your plate - work projects, training schedule, family schedules, lack of sleep? Are there opportunities to ask for help, or delegate some tasks? Giving ourselves the grace and compassion to check in - where are we on the Rule of Thirds, can we identify areas where we can let off some steam, or what areas do we want to apply more gas?

Have you heard of the Rule of Thirds before? If so, tell me about it! Have you put it into practice? If not, what do you think? Where are you falling on the ratio recently?

Regardless of where you are at on the ratio - mark it and show up again tomorrow. Let’s see how it feels tomorrow.