Guy Reams (00:01.934)
Today's day 168, naming the beast, a key technique for overcoming an obstacle. I'm hesitant to talk about this because I don't like to admit that I have big obstacles in my life that are very difficult to overcome. But everybody has them. As you're trying to make progress, especially if you're making progress, meaning you're pushing the envelope trying to become better, if you are, then you are going to have obstacles. And these obstacles are going to feel overwhelming.
In fact, the more loftier your goal is, the larger your dreams, the more difficult the obstacles will be. And so as you push the limits of what you're capable of, those obstacles will become more and more daunting. So I've been on this track right lately of thinking of tactics of how to overcome things that I'm faced with very challenging. So there's a concept I came up with many years ago called naming the beast.
And basically the idea is that if you name something, it gives you the ability to overcome it. It gives you power over it. Naming something gives me mental, it gives me a way to define the thing that I'm trying to overcome. And by defining it, it's still very hard, but by defining it, it takes it out of my imagination and makes it more concrete. By so doing,
I'm less prone to be in fear of the thing and I'm more likely to attack it because I can now define it. So to share an example, when I first started using this technique is when I started my running plan. So I came up with this commitment to run every day for 365 days in a row. So I was running every day and when I first started, my distances were very short.
I probably ran maybe to the mailbox and back. I mean, literally, it was embarrassing. And then over time, I started going a little bit further. I'd run like a quarter of a mile. And pretty soon I was running a half a mile. So I was starting to get encouraged that I was actually running now, I was actually making some improvement. So I took my bike and I went and I mapped out a course.
Guy Reams (02:22.894)
where I could run one mile, two mile, three miles, and then up to five miles. So I mapped this course thinking it would never be possible for me to ever get to five miles. But I did map it out just to give myself some hope, right? So as I mapped it out, I came across at the one mile marker, it ended right at this ditch, this culvert. Basically, it's this area where water drains into an area where it can
can go out to a drainage ditch out behind the neighborhood. So this is where it ended. And of course, that reminded me of the book Stephen King's It, or the movie. You might remember the movie. It opens with a young boy being attracted to this rain drain in which the clown Pennywise is hiding in there, that getting him to come and play. So immediately I...
I thought this mile marker is going to be now called Pennywise. So I started naming my goal Pennywise and I would wake up in the morning and say, today is the day I'm going to defeat Pennywise. Well, it took me a while, but after a couple months, I was able to run a full mile and I remember the day I defeated Pennywise. I danced on the rain drain area, the ditch. I danced on top of that.
cheering that I finally defeated Pennywise. So this is an example of how using that power over something gives you the ability to overcome it once you name it. So I then named the other mile markers. I remember the fifth one was called Chevron the Dragon because the five mile marker ended right at this gas station, the Chevron gas station.
So this became known as Chevron in my mind. And Chevron was a very evil dragon indeed. But I eventually overcame Chevron as well. So this doesn't have to be physical challenges. It could be any area in your life. It could be a business challenge. It could be a relationship challenge. It could be anything you can think of. It could be that junk drawer that you want to clean out. Whatever it happens to be, you can name it. And by naming it, you give yourself power. Now,
Guy Reams (04:50.798)
I got this idea from an author who I will not mention his name because I'm mad at him, but this author that wrote this book called The Name of the Wind. Now this book is a fantasy novel about a character who learns the art of naming things. And in the folklore or the magic system of the book, you have this ability to, once you understand the true nature of something, you can name it.
And once you name it, you gain some power over it. And this can relate to humans too. Once you know somebody's true name, you would have power over them. So the reason I'm mad at the author is he hasn't finished the third book yet. And it's been a long time. So it's time. He's got to get down or start writing. All right, but anyway, the point is that the book inspired me to start thinking about names and naming things. So.
I would encourage this as a strategy. So you've obviously got challenges in your life right now, things, albatrosses or things that you just can't overcome. So give it a chance, name them, come up with a creative name that really defines the problem. And once you've got that, start referring to it by that name from now on. So.
I have lots of names that I use. Like right now I'm wrestling with the Russian bear. I'm trying to skin the wild bobcat. I've got all sorts of names that I use to describe things I'm trying to do. And they're fun for me, they're personal, I don't really share them with anybody, but it's just a way for me to gain power over my problems. Thank you.