Social Psychologist Emily Balcetis on Why the Wall Is Mental, Not Physical
About this episode
Emily Balcetis discusses the psychological aspects of hitting the wall in endurance running and how perception influences motivation.
When you hit the wall at mile 19 of a marathon (or mile 80 of a 100-miler) it feels like your body is the problem. Your legs are concrete, your stomach is in revolt, and the finish line might as well be on the moon. But what if the wall is mostly in your head? Emily Balcetis is a social psychologist who studies how vision and perception shape motivation: how what people literally see changes what they believe they can do. She runs the SPAM Lab at NYU and is the author of Clearer, Closer, Better: How Successful People See the World. Her TED Talk on why some people find exercise harder than others has been viewed over a million times. Zoe and Brendan get into why highly motivated runners literally see the finish line as closer than it is, how Joan Benoit Samuelson used a woman in pink shorts to win the first Olympic women's marathon in 1984, and why the wall is a psychological phenomenon rather than a physiological one. Emily explains why willpower isn't a fixed trait you either have or don't, the if-then framework she calls foreshadowing failure, and how negativity bias means our brains lie to us about our own progress, which is why becoming your own accountant might be more…
Sponsors
LMNT
More episodes of The Trailhead
- How to Spot Fitness and Wellness BS with Exercise Scientist Nick Tiller, PhD
- A Longtime New York Times Music Critic on How Running Changed the Way He Listens
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Trailhead podcast page.