I still bother with runners I call hamburgers. They're never going to run any record times. But they can fulfill their own potential.
Bill BowermanRead
If someone says, 'Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?' ignore him! What the hell difference does it make?.... The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.
Interpretation
Focus on personal achievement rather than comparing yourself to others.
This quote emphasizes the importance of individual journey and personal growth over the act of measuring oneself against others. Bill Bowerman suggests that one’s worth is not determined by how much or how far one has achieved in comparison to others, but rather by the personal commitment and magic that one brings to their endeavors.
In practice
Using this quote during a motivational speech at a running club meeting to encourage members to focus on their own progress.
I still bother with runners I call hamburgers. They're never going to run any record times. But they can fulfill their own potential.
If they said, 'Do five pull-ups,' I would always want to do 10.
What you persist in doing gets easier. The task hasn't changed, but your ability to do it has increased.
Those among us who have achieved the most have achieved only a fraction of what ALL of us are capable of. You haven't even begun to scratch the surface!
If I had permitted my failures, or what seemed to me at the time a lack of success, to discourage me I cannot see any way in which I would ever have made progress.
If you're not failing 90% of the time, then you're probably not working on sufficiently challenging problems.
I'm a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.
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