The Optimal Truth

The Day Nobody Went Fast

There was a day during my coaching years at LSU that I’ll never forget, not because of the times on the stopwatch, but because of the silence that followed.

We were in the middle of a high-intensity training set, and our long-time head coach, Dave Geyer, had asked the athletes for a “fast effort.” Simple instruction, no ambiguity.

What we got… wasn’t fast.

From the deck, both Dave and I watched as around 25 athletes pushed off the wall and proceeded to give us something that looked more like “compliant” than “competitive.”

Technically correct, emotionally disconnected. It was effort, just not that effort.

Dave resisted the urge to shout… at least at first.

He simply stopped the athletes at the wall, told them he would like to do a quick survey, and asked all the swimmer to close their eyes.

Then he asked – “Raise your hand if you honestly gave a fast effort just now.”

Three hands went up.

Silence.

Then came a rare and memorable verbal lashing from Dave, and he said nothing that the athletes didn’t deserve to hear.

But amongst the fire and ferocity of his tone, he was highlighting to the group a powerful lesson in high performance.

As coaches, we can create the plan, provide direction, and shout until we’re blue in the face.

But the athlete must decide whether to go fast. They determine what optimal is and what it isn’t.

That moment illustrated a powerful truth about optimal effort.

Optimal is a balance of direction and integrity. It is knowing what you want to achieve and respecting it enough to honor the effort it demands.

Since I began my business in late 2021, I have been preaching “optimal performance” and “pursuing your optimal self” to my clients.

I have always believed that we owe it to ourselves to pursue it, but in the past 3.5 weeks I have struggled enormously with it.

24 days ago, I had a hip scope for a torn labrum which left me in bed for 2 weeks straight, before slowly reestablishing some familiar routine, but still mainly operating from my bed.

I developed a laundry list of behaviors that did not serve my optimal self. Increased screen time, later bedtimes, undisciplined business work, Negative moods, and more.

And I have been telling myself that I can get back to my old self whenever I want, but I have been saying that for a week with minimal change.

I know what I need to do, but I am not being honest with myself. Simple as that.

To me, optimal is at the intersection of reality and direction. It’s knowing where you are, where you’re going, and deliberately aligning your behavior with both.

In the case of those swimmers, the optimal choice was clear. We asked for fast. They knew what fast looked like. They knew what fast felt like. And yet… they didn’t do it.

Not because they couldn’t. But because it is hard to consistently deliver your best effort, and your ability alone won’t cut it.

It takes intentional effort and knowing what is true about that effort.

The optimal performance you see advertised on social media (cold tubbing in a sauna staring at the sunrise while doing yoga eating egg whites before 6am and after a 14 hour fast) is not reality.

I reckon we land on a true standard for *optimal* the moment we stop romanticizing it and assessing against how others present it, and start committing to it in the areas we want it most in our own lives.

Because it is not about perfection, and it is not performance theater. It’s just the real, deliberate choice to show up and measure yourself against the truth.

Last night I looked at my behavior and asked myself: “Are you honoring what’s optimal… or just hoping to feel ready again?”

This morning, I woke without an alarm at 5:45am, compelled to write. To move. To tell the truth about my effort, my direction, and my integrity.

All in service of what *optimal* means to me.

All so that when I say it’s time to go fast… I’ll know what that is and what that isn’t.

Have you been meaning to go fast?

Close your eyes.

Be honest.

Hands up – are you giving what the moment asks for?

Time to decide.

#letskeepgrowing