Run vertically

I’m no runner myself, however, once I received an essential lesson about running. My cousin Alex told me - “Don’t run vertically, run forward!”

– “What do you mean forward? How else can one run? Don’t I run forward already?” In the next two minutes with very little effort I could perceive what he meant.

– “You don’t just push upward. Focus on getting further forward with every kick.” This was very easy to try. And it felt sooo different! I could feel the air moving against my face and shoulders even though I was jogging! This felt very different and new.

There is one difficulty to this technique. It has to be remembered. If you’re a dilettante runner like myself, then by default you don’t think about this ‘trick’ and consequently you don’t use it. It requires continuous mental effort to remember that you need to keep pushing forward. If not - you just forget doing that.

I believe that the same principle applies to my daily work: each action can push me and those with me forward in a perceivable movement. And the same difficulty applies too: if I don’t think actively about pushing forward, then I may work without moving anywhere, jump on the same place, googling some useful stuff, for instance.

I am convinced that with enough exercise “pushing forward” becomes a mental habit. Needless to say, some work is needed.

P.S.: Try pushing forward when walking, it works.