Am I really organized?

“You’re very organized.”

I'm sitting at my desk on a phone call earlier this week, and someone is telling me I'm organized.

I can't believe it.

There are 40 different things running through my head as my email inbox piles up. I need to meditate. Or better yet, go for a run.

Maybe it's impostor syndrome, but this feels like chaos.

As I reflect on it, I thought to myself: maybe the more organized you are, the more you notice when things are out of place.

It's the same with clothes. When I go running in the rain, I don't notice a bit of mud or a splash on my shirt. I'm already soaked. But when I go to a nice restaurant, I'm paranoid about the smallest spot ruining my outfit.

I suppose being organized, whether you're planning a race or just living your life, works the same way. Maybe the more organized you are, the less organized you feel.

So if you're beating yourself up about something that happened at your race, maybe the bananas went out in bunches instead of individually, or there were no clocks at the mile markers, give yourself some grace. You were probably the only one who noticed.

And the fact that you're thinking about it is why 200 other things went right.

— Ian

I ran a 5K