Imma gonna let you watch that Nike ad but its message is bad and bad for you.
Not the various heroines and heroes and hero/ines in it, who are wonderful and deserve recognition (and Nike money!) Not Colin K, who I hope gets all the fame and fortune he should have gotten from the NFL, but without concussions. All that = great.
But the whole: have Crazy Goals thing. "Don't be the best in your school, or the best in the world, but the best EVER." It's inspirational and poetic and I bet sells lots of shoes and sports bras. However.
It is that comparison that Nike is pushing, shared by every ad featuring world class athletes, every cover of fitness magazines showing gleaming, oiled model/athletes, that keeps people from actually getting healthier.
Because you're NOT going to be the fastest ever. Or even in your school, most likely. You're not going to be an Immortal Hero of Sport. And some people realize that early in their attempts to rise from the couch, and quit. 99% of amateur athletes never win anything. (Rough est.)
But you know what you can do? Be healthier. Move more. Get fitter. Do things that aren't impossible but seem impossible to you right now: run a 5K. Play in a recreational soccer league. Get good at yoga.
Your job and goal as you train is not to be the best human ever. It is to be the best version of you possible. I was an overweight, sedentary 40 year old. And I decided to change that and applied myself and did it, and ended up running 14 marathons.
Didn't win a single one of them, either.
I write about this in a book coming out in the Fall. It's not for Colin K, or Serena, or anybody featured in that ad. It's for the people watching it who say, "No, that's not me." You're right. As the ad itself says, contradicting its own message: "Don't be like anyone."
Requisite sales pitch: I guess in the end, I'm as bad as Nike: bit.ly/PeterSagalBook
