Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee - BITESIZE | How To Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals in 2024 | Eliud Kipchoge #431

Episode Date: March 1, 2024

Today’s guest is possibly best known for the phrase ‘No human is limited’ and, whether you are a runner or not, I think you are going to find his insights highly relevant and applicable in your own life. Feel Better Live More Bitesize is my weekly podcast for your mind, body, and heart. Each week I’ll be featuring inspirational stories and practical tips from some of my former guests. Today’s clip is from episode 304 of the podcast with Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge. Eliud is widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time and, In this clip, he shares why he believes that self-discipline is one of the most important skills we can develop. Thanks to our sponsor https://www.drinkag1.com/livemore Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to https://fblm.supercast.com. Show notes and the full podcast are available at drchatterjee.com/304 Follow me on instagram.com/drchatterjee Follow me on facebook.com/DrChatterjee Follow me on twitter.com/drchatterjeeuk   DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Today's Bite Size episode is brought to you by AG1, a science-driven daily health drink with over 70 essential nutrients to support your overall health. It includes vitamin C and zinc, which helps support a healthy immune system, something that is really important at this time of year. It also contains prebiotics and digestive enzymes that help support your gut health. It's really tasty and has been in my own life for over five years. Until the end of January, AG1 are giving a limited time offer. Usually they offer my listeners a one-year supply of vitamin D and K2 and five free travel packs with their first order. But until the end of January, they are doubling the five free travel packs to

10. And these packs are perfect for keeping in your backpack, office, or car. If you want to take advantage of this limited time offer, all you have to do is go to drinkag1.com forward slash live more. Welcome to Feel Better Live More Bite Size, your weekly dose of positivity and optimism to get you ready for the weekend. Today's clip is from episode 304 of the podcast with the Kenyan athlete, Elliot Kipchoge. Elliot is widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time. And in this clip, he shares why he believes that self-discipline is one of the most important skills we can develop. Self-discipline is something that I've heard you speak about before. You said it's very, very important.

When you say self-discipline, what exactly do you mean by that? How can you have self-discipline? The rule number one is to get vitamin N. Vitamin N? Yes. That's the rule number one. You need to inject yourself with vitamin N. Vitamin N? Yes. That's the rule number one. You need to inject yourself with vitamin N. N is for?

N is to learn to say no. That's a vitamin. Yeah. That's how to get self-discipline. Secondly, setting your priorities right. to get self-discipline. Secondly, setting your priorities right. Thirdly, is avoid complaining. Those are the three factors which can lead you to self-discipline. And to tell you that doing all these things is not one night

event. It's a process. It's like going to a gymnasium. If you go to a gymnasium for nine hours, I go for three months. Who is going to get the muscles, good muscles? It's me, because I'm going for three months. If you go for nine hours, it's just nothing. You destroy your body.

So it's a process. It's your body. So it's a process. It's a process. It's a real process. That you can actually, in the three-month time, you have absorbed the self-discipline. That's why I always tell people, it's not a one-night event. To get vitamin and learning to say no in everything

is not easy. Setting your in everything is not easy. Setting your priorities right is not easy. Avoid complaining in anything is not easy. But if you combine the three things you can have self-discipline and without those three, then there is no self-discipline. That's what I mean by actually trying to tell people self-discipline is the key to any professional sports person or sportswoman. In our camp, I printed a huge billboard with 60 values. 60?

6-0. 6-0 values, wow. Yes. I encouraged everybody to get 15 values. 15. After getting 15, they should narrow them to three. Those three values, you should live by it, sleep by it, walk by those values, run by those values. Relax by those values. Go around with your friends.

Hided by those values. I've heard you say before that the discipline, it doesn't restrict us. It actually gives us more freedom. Absolutely. I always say the disciplined ones are free in life. The indisciplined ones are not free. They're in prison. Because you

are indisciplined and wherever you go, you know that I am not supposed to do this and you are doing it. That means you are in prison. In this world, we need to be free, work free, live a honest life, and free, live our next life. And that's the way to go.

Yeah. When you're about to embark on something like last Sunday, the Berlin Marathon, do you know beforehand that I'm going to try and break a world record today? Is that already in your mind? Or I guess there must be things you train for four or five months, but you can't control the weather, for example. Many of us who run at weekends, let's say, some days we're not feeling it. Our legs don't feel as though they've got the energy or we don't have the mindset. So I'm really interested for you,

when you have done so much training to build up for one race where the world is watching. Do you have a strategy in your head that today I'm going for the world record? I'll start by saying that I'm not a believer of success. For the first thing, I don't believe in success, but I believe in good preparation and planning which can bring success. That means within actually the five months, if I don't work hard, I will not be successful. But if I got well planned, well prepared,

then I'm sure of success. What I'm trying to say is this. For four months, I'm really training. I think the targets for over 80% is that I feel I'm really comfortable in my body. My legs are good. Then, actually, one day to go, then I start to audit what I've been doing. If what I've been doing actually went well, as I expected,

then the next day, I'm ready for the next day. Anything might happen. If the rain comes in, if it's too hot, or if the weather is okay, then I will handle it. But I will accept the results. If you don't accept the results, then if you want to enjoy the sport, you need to accept the results. You know, if you don't accept the results, then if you want to enjoy the sport,

you need to accept the outcome. Be it any outcome, I will not regret. You don't believe in success. That's really interesting to me. Does that mean, is it you don't believe in success? Or certainly when I hear you say that and describe it, is it that the success is the four months of training

that's the success let me explain when I say I don't believe in success success is there but you cannot sit and wait for success yeah success is waiting for you

to actually say, hey, just grab me. But rule number one, you should be prepared. Rule number two, you should be well-planned. Rule number three, you should be actually capable of grabbing the success. That's what success is saying. Success is there, I don't deny.

But I believe in preparation, in pure and good preparation, in pure and clean planning can lead to success. I don't think that you can actually believe that I will be successful in a marathon. And you don't follow actually the program to the letter. You know, the moment you don't, you skip one, your body will actually count on the very day. Yeah, yes. I think success, what I'm trying to say is the mastery of what you are doing.

If you have mastered what you are doing, then that's success. But you need to have the right systems for success to come in. The moment you lack systems, the moment you lack the positive systems within here,

you will really look for it, but you will not get it. So it's good that in life you need to weigh yourself and declare that, hey, I belong here. Even as a sportsman, you really need to actually stand and say, no, I need to be successful. I belong here. It doesn't mean that people can see you are successful, you are not.

People can still doubt. Please, it's good to actually tell yourself I need to be successful. But I need to wake up. I need to be actually doing what's right at the right time, at the right place. We all need our own individual definition of success, don't we? Absolutely. If you want to be successful, define in your own words. week. Absolutely. If you want to be successful, define in your own words. In your own words, the way

you understand. Your own language. Define success in your own language. Because someone who's never run before, if they were to complete a 5k, if they were to build up to running 5km, that could be success for them. Absolutely, yes.

Because they are building up and they have actually completed 5K. Yeah. In the next three months, they are completing 10K. That's success. Do you feel any pressure because of who you are, because of the amount of people who look up to you and watch you? Are you aware of that pressure from the outside, or is it just another race for you?

It was a huge pressure. It's a pressure from all sides. On Friday, I just jumped in to press conference for whom and all the journalists were asking me, are you going for world record?

I told them, no, who told you I'm going for world record? I'm coming here to run a good race and if that race can be translated to be a course record or if you can call it a world record, I will appreciate it. That's what I told them. But there was a lot of pressure from the channels. Everybody was expecting that you can run. Then I told them, no, I'm coming for a good race. Yeah. It's that approach, isn't it, that you keep talking about. It's process over outcome. It's the journey over the destination. That's what I'm hearing

as I hear you speak. Yes, yes. You know, you cannot actually say, you know, human being is not machine. You cannot, it's,

you cannot set yourself for a certain time and run that time. No. You never know what will happen. On the way, marathon is life and all challenges are on the way.

But I always put my mind that I need to run well. I need to run certain time. Try to push myself according to what I've been doing in training, thinking. Before you do something you need to internalize first. You need to internalize. You need to

really put in your heart and in your mind. You need even to think and imagine closing a finishing line with a world record. Then you will get it. You cannot wake up and just rush. The moment you get it, then you say thank you and you move on.

You're commonly known for the phrase, no human is limited. When you say no human is limited, what do you mean by that? No human is limited, Hercule, is not applying purely to sportsmen and sportswomen. It's not for running alone. It's for all the professions in this world. I want that engineer actually to remove that barrier in his mind that he or she can think and innovate something which can help the world.

I want that teacher actually to have the best mind to inject knowledge to the kids. I want that psychologist actually to have the best knowledge to actually talk to people and remove what they have as a problem. I want that leader to really provide the real skills of leadership. I want those world leaders actually to embrace that they are not limited and make sure that the world is in peace and the world is developing towards a positive direction. That's what I mean by no human is limited.

It implies to everybody. It's a universal thing which affects every human being in this world. As I talk to you, Elliot, I think back to a conversation I had a few years ago on this show with Kylian Jornet, regarded by many as the greatest mountain runner of all time. You, of course, are regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time. And what really strikes me from chatting to both of you is there's a real modesty, a real humility.

And I'm really interested, why do you think that might be? And do you think there's something unique to running that kind of gives off that flavor in the people at the top of the sport? I think it's about understanding life and understanding what you are doing. Always when you are at the top of something and you have an ego that's a sign of failure. something and you have an ego, that's a sign of actually failure.

And at the end of it, actually, when you are at home and you realize that your ego is half, then it doesn't feel like you are human. So it's the way you think that you treat the world as a full of a human family and an ego will go away. human family and Hiko will go away. And I trust that the moment you chase away Hiko, that's the best place to really

get into course. The best place to think. The best place actually to think with other people and respect other people. The best place actually to get your trainings in a good way. Yeah.

I believe actually at the end of the day, you know, before you go to bed, I think everybody actually is reflecting what has happened for the whole day. That you actually affect the world in a positive way or in a negative way for the whole day. You actually, what did you do? Did you do anything negative or positive? That's what people actually should be asking themselves at the end of the day before you go to bed.

And if you happen to actually have those thoughts, then actually you realize that there is no need of actually having an ego. Yeah. Yeah.

Life is actually good when you are on the ground. Hope you enjoyed that bite-sized clip. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. And I'll be back next week with my long-form conversational Wednesday and the latest episode of Bite Science next Friday.