Inspired by Duffy’s thread about OCD tendencies, I’d like to get some outside perspective from you guys (and girls). The ST demographic is one I am proud to be a part of - I believe we are typically successful at our jobs (to afford bikes/gear), successful with our families (to buy us time to train) and healthy/competitive physically (self-explanatory) - all things that would point to some classically “Type A” personalities. But I’m wondering what drives that and if it can be a double-edged sword.
I’ve been seeing a counselor for a few weeks talking about some anxiety/frustration/unhappiness issues I’ve been having – mostly related to the fact that I am VERY self-critical. I am hard on myself any time I make a mistake - at work, socially, or in fitness/training and a lot of times that pressure causes me a lot of distress. I have always chalked that up to being “Type A” or having a lot of self-discipline and called it a good thing: self-motivating and recognizing areas for improvement are things that my parents taught me and they’ve allowed me to be very successful - flying combat aircraft, managing hundreds of people, and breaking that elusive 10:00/mile pace barrier. But the self-critical voice that helps me succeed externally makes me feel inferior, self-conscious and almost constantly frustrated internally.
Do you guys feel that way? Are you “Type A”? How does the relentless pursuit of excellence affect you?
Fine line between being driven and being a perfectionist. You know its a problem when you hit your goals in a race or even in training, and your self dialogue is a long the lines of ‘well good, thats how it should be’, instead of a proverbial pat on your own back.
Your arent alone. The thing about racing against the clock or hitting numbers, is that we all have a PB or goal. We want to break this PB often. Its a bitter pill to swallow to know we have been faster at a previous race or hit higher power etc. As an example: I have been under a bit of stress atm, and feeling the tail end effects of food poising before a 3hr ride on saturday. The first interval during the ride i JUST managed to hold at normal power. I knew the 2nd one i was going to be in trouble with, despite smashing it the week before. Sure enough, i failed miserably and peddled home dissapointed that i couldnt hit my watts for an interval of an hour. This was saturday. Todays monday and im still pissed about it to the point where im almost fearing it happening again the next time i get back on the bike tomorrow. The logical mind knows that biking is my strength and has a past history of being good at this dicipline, but the emotional mind wants to focus on not hitting my watts on an interval. Stupid emotional brain.
I was just talking to my wife about this. I have a few friends that I am just amazed can wake up at 5:30 in the morning, and just be on for the next 16 hours, day in and day out. They get up, plan every moment of their day, hit the gym, get to work, are extremely productive for 10 hours straight, somehow manage to pay their bills, order their Christmas presents from Amazon, fill out their daughter’s college application, take the kids to little league, and get home and install hardwood floors all before going to bed.
I can’t tell you how any of them actually feels about their lives as there is a fine line between being happy and putting on a happy face, but I know that this is the standard that my guitar player holds himself to and his is miserable. He is constantly exhausted and stressed out, but feels obligated to live up to this type A standard. He pointed put recently that his daughter noticed that none of her friends’ families live like this. If they can’t do something and have it fit conveniently in a relaxed schedule, then they put it off for another day, or don’t do it at all.
As someone else mentioned, wrong forum. This is where you come from if you're not type A, and we're more likely to make fun of that trait, due to the douch-baggery it produces, than celebrate it. Yes, we're losers (except for Bone Idol and Mopdhal, incredibly successful and would like for you to know it).
It doesn’t have to be a negative, but it certainly can be.
I tend to dislike labels, especially when there are only two choices. I doubt anyone fits cleanly in the typical ‘Type A’ or ‘Type B’ buckets.
That being said, I’m very similar to you. Extremely self critical, sometimes to the point that I’ll be afraid to act in order to avoid making a mistake. Self awareness is what’s allowed me to push through this, and the older I get the more control I seem to have on it. Still, the constant self critique and evaluation can be very draining. It drove me to a lot of success early in my professional life, but then swamped me with self-doubt when I got out of the Army and into a new different world I wasn’t proficient at. It took a few years to bounce back from that, but again, it came down to perspective and getting back to the basics (i.e. working hard).
Where I struggle with the label of Type A is that some people think it implies a constant need to be on the go. I’m a very structured person and busy from about 430am to 830pm. Weekends are usually constant activity from 530am to 830pm. But if I ever get a day off without kid or wife around, I’ll happily sit around and be as lazy as possible. The rare lazy time is extremely valuable to me, and some people think that a prototypical Type A wouldn’t like that. I’m also a strong introvert who is also very assertive and social. Figure that one out.
Bottom line, I think you just have to accept your personality and make the most out of it. Follow a life/career path that will play to your strengths and interests. Turn it into a positive through your own choices and by putting yourself in the best situation possible.
I was just talking to my wife about this. I have a few friends that I am just amazed can wake up at 5:30 in the morning, and just be on for the next 16 hours, day in and day out. They get up, plan every moment of their day, hit the gym, get to work, are extremely productive for 10 hours straight, somehow manage to pay their bills, order their Christmas presents from Amazon, fill out their daughter’s college application, take the kids to little league, and get home and install hardwood floors all before going to bed.
I can’t tell you how any of them actually feels about their lives as there is a fine line between being happy and putting on a happy face, but I know that this is the standard that my guitar player holds himself to and his is miserable. He is constantly exhausted and stressed out, but feels obligated to live up to this type A standard. He pointed put recently that his daughter noticed that none of her friends’ families live like this. If they can’t do something and have it fit conveniently in a relaxed schedule, then they put it off for another day, or don’t do it at all.
I have a hard time finding the in-between. I’m either very productive, and thus quite stressed, or a complete slug, and headed towards depressed.
I don’t know what that is. Nor do I want a name for it.
I consider myself one of the lucky type “A”'s. What I mean is I realized that I fit that profile a long time ago but I consciously decided not to spend my entire life trying to climb to the top of any ladder. Instead, I have spent time on on making my life and my families lives as good as I could. That means as a father and husband I am driven as hell. I have never missed any of my kids awards ceremonies or school functions. I have been at all the kids recitals because that is more important to me than work. I help with homework and all the other stuff that all fathers should do but many can’t because they can’t get out of the corporate mind-set that a 70 hour work week is not enough…Being a type A doesn’t mean you have no choice, it means that you are driven to excel and you can channel that energy towards anything. The trick is knowing when to excel and where to pull back.
Inspired by Duffy’s thread about OCD tendencies, I’d like to get some outside perspective from you guys (and girls). The ST demographic is one I am proud to be a part of - I believe we are typically successful at our jobs (to afford bikes/gear), successful with our families (to buy us time to train) and healthy/competitive physically (self-explanatory) - all things that would point to some classically “Type A” personalities. But I’m wondering what drives that and if it can be a double-edged sword.
I’ve been seeing a counselor for a few weeks talking about some anxiety/frustration/unhappiness issues I’ve been having – mostly related to the fact that I am VERY self-critical. I am hard on myself any time I make a mistake - at work, socially, or in fitness/training and a lot of times that pressure causes me a lot of distress. I have always chalked that up to being “Type A” or having a lot of self-discipline and called it a good thing: self-motivating and recognizing areas for improvement are things that my parents taught me and they’ve allowed me to be very successful - flying combat aircraft, managing hundreds of people, and breaking that elusive 10:00/mile pace barrier. But the self-critical voice that helps me succeed externally makes me feel inferior, self-conscious and almost constantly frustrated internally.
Do you guys feel that way? Are you “Type A”? How does the relentless pursuit of excellence affect you?
I’m with a lot of folks above where I think it’s difficult for one person to be completely type a, b , c but have always considered myself a “b”. I however have the same tendancies as you. With my accomplishments/experiences I get compliments but my internal voice is always running “yeah…but I should have done XYZ to make it better” and other super helpful talk tracks like that.
I find it really annoying and am really trying to focus more on enjoying the experiences vs focusing on what I could have done differently.
I doubt anyone fits cleanly in the typical ‘Type A’ or ‘Type B’ buckets.
There was a recent NPR piece recently that covered the history of “Type A.” Essentially all the “science” was done by two scientists, and most of it was funded by the tobacco industry who were eager to demonstrate that heart disease was caused by stress and not tobacco.
I doubt anyone fits cleanly in the typical ‘Type A’ or ‘Type B’ buckets.
There was a recent NPR piece recently that covered the history of “Type A.” Essentially all the “science” was done by two scientists, and most of it was funded by the tobacco industry who were eager to demonstrate that heart disease was caused by stress and not tobacco.
That is interesting AND hilarious – we don’t have to use the “Type A/B/Whatever” heuristic – I realize it’s largely made up, it’s just a convenient way to describe a very real series of experiences and feelings I’ve been having.
Duffy – uhhhhh, I can’t remember the thread. I’m not even 100% convinced it was you that wrote it, but I thought it was! My apologies for putting words in your mouth. To the OP of the OCD thread…help!
I doubt anyone fits cleanly in the typical ‘Type A’ or ‘Type B’ buckets.
There was a recent NPR piece recently that covered the history of “Type A.” Essentially all the “science” was done by two scientists, and most of it was funded by the tobacco industry who were eager to demonstrate that heart disease was caused by stress and not tobacco.
That is interesting AND hilarious – we don’t have to use the “Type A/B/Whatever” heuristic – I realize it’s largely made up, it’s just a convenient way to describe a very real series of experiences and feelings I’ve been having.
Duffy – uhhhhh, I can’t remember the thread. I’m not even 100% convinced it was you that wrote it, but I thought it was! My apologies for putting words in your mouth. To the OP of the OCD thread…help!
When I was younger, teaching full-time, running a company and raising kids my wife said I was AAA. Time, having grown kids who are doing well, retirement, a wife who is constantly on me “to relax”, quality IPAs and getting back into Tri have all mellowed me considerably. Well, maybe except the Tri part. Before my last race in July, out of nowhere I just shouted, “I just want a medal damnit”. Came home with age group silver (small tri) and wife said, “there, now you have your medal”. My reply “now I gotta get me a gold”. She just rolled her eyes . . .
Genuine Type A is actually considered a psychological disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. These are the neighbors from hell, the boss everybody hates, and are for the most part driven by a deep seated child desire to gain parental approval even in adulthood. You’ve got to roll your eyes at the way some people proudly call themselves Type A’s as if this disorder was some sort of a badge of honor. The reality is that most of these people are not true Type A’s.
As for myself, I’m fairly laid back so would assume I’d mostly would be considered a Type B.
There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance (cocky).
There is also a fine line between Type “A” and Asshole.
When people think your an ass… you have gone too far. Leave your goals for you to break, but realize they are your goals and many people don’t need to hear about it. Most people in the world don’t care that you took first or last at the last triathlon. They do, however, care if you hold the door for them and smile.
