Speaker 1: 0:07

Hey there, welcome Welcome back to the Sweet Spot. This is Finish Strong Friday and I'm Dr Sweet. Great to have you back with us and thank you for listening this week to our Power of Giving series. So I'm Dr Sweet. I'm a board certified sports and performance psychiatrist and with my experience I've seen what it takes for athletes and top performers to push through challenges and finish strong. And I work with many kinds of individuals executives and leaders from various fields and walks of life and they too, must be able to finish strong. And I also work with very passionate individuals like yourself, who are committed to excellence, committed to living their best lives and committed to being their best selves every day.

Speaker 1: 1:02

So we are going to tackle today on this Finish Strong Friday how does the power of giving tie into being able to finish strong? Well, let's dive in. As Jim George once said, it is not how you start that's important, but how you finish. Once said, it is not how you start that's important, but how you finish. And as someone who works in the field of sports and sports psychology and psychiatry, and just as a fan like yourself, how many times have we sat through a game and the game began a certain way, and we were convinced that we were going to win, or vice versa, that we were going to lose, and by the end there's a completely different outcome. Over and over again, we have seen in sports and in life that it's how you finish that really matters.

Speaker 1: 2:00

Today, we're exploring a surprising secret to finishing strong, and it's backed by science. This is really fascinating. Research on marathon runners has revealed something unexpected. Something unexpected about finishing strong. What the researchers noted is this that runners who consistently achieved their best finish times weren't just the ones with the most training and the most skill. Actually, they were the ones who gave encouragement to others during the race. That's right. The ones who were the most encouraging to other athletes were the ones who were the strongest finishers. Sounds a bit counterintuitive, right? Wouldn't giving your energy to others during a competition train you? But here's where the science gets interesting. Studies show that when we give support to others, our bodies actually release endorphins that help sustain our performance. So these brain chemicals are literally inside us, and we're wired to finish strong when they're secreted.

Speaker 1: 3:23

So I call this the giving the finish framework. Literally, you are giving something to help yourself finish strong, and I've come up with these four key principles based on the research that I did, that I believe make a difference as to whether an athlete is going to fade or finish strong. The first principle is that you have to give energy. Business studies show that teams who support others in the final stretch actually maintain their own momentum better. It's like lighting another person's candle Yours doesn't burn out any faster for doing that, but what it does is it illuminates the path for both of you. There's something about the synergy of one candle lighting the other.

Speaker 1: 4:21

We talked about this yesterday. So the first thing is to give energy, and this is the week that we've been speaking about the power of giving, so giving energy actually provides energy. The second is giving support. Marathon research shows that runners who give these high fives to the spectators and who are encouraging to their fellow runners, they maintain a better pace in the final miles, according to the spectators. And who are encouraging to their fellow runners, they maintain a better pace in the final miles, according to the research. Why? Why should this be the case? Because the research shows that giving support creates energy in their biology. Giving support creates a cycle of energy that momentum pushes them forward.

Speaker 1: 5:09

And third, give focus. Give focus to the present moment, stay in the here and now. When you give your attention fully to where you are right now and not be tied to the past or so worried about the future, you literally are more focused and more able to perform. When you give your attention fully to where you are right now, not just where you're trying to get to, you actually tap into hidden reserves of strength, according to the research. And then, fourth and last and this is actually crucial, it's one of these last but not least ones studies of high-performing teams show that expressing gratitude, giving thanks near the finish line, actually improves completion rates and overall performance. Go figure, just giving thanks would do it. So that's the four-pronged approach. I'm going to repeat them so you understand them very quickly.

Speaker 1: 6:19

The four principles that research has shown that make a difference as to being able to finish strong, no matter what your field is, is the first give it energy. Second, give it support. Third, give it your all in the moment. That's here and now. Give it the present moment, focus. And then, lastly, give thanks. Now.

Speaker 1: 6:48

I want you to try this the next time you're approaching the finish line, wherever it is, whether it's a project deadline, a personal goal or even just at the end of a tough week. Instead of focusing on how tired you are, I want you to find one way to give. Give a word of encouragement to someone else who's working towards their finish line. Give a moment of recognition to someone on your own team. Give thanks to someone who helped you along the way.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Remember, finishing strong isn't about what you have left in the tank. It's about what you're willing to give, even when you think you're running on empty. That's the hidden principle here. So until next time, I'm challenging you to keep finishing strong by including giving as a part of your strategy. All right, this is Dr Sweet, and you're in the sweet spot. Thank you so much for your time and your attention. Hey, if you found this valuable today in any way, I'm asking you to follow me on YouTube, linkedin, instagram, tiktok and X. You can contact me at Dr Derek Sweet for more insights for performance, tips for mindset and living your best life. I'm looking forward to catching you there. Thank you.