Milton Erikson was an incredible man. He was one of the founders of NLP. Erikson had polio when he was a youth and was even told he was going to die. He beat all the odds and survived but he was paralysed apart from being able to move his eyeballs. He watched people. For a long time that is all he could do. He learned a lot of stuff from just watching people. He taught himself how to move again just by watching his baby sister as she learned how to coordinate her first movements.

Milton Erikson grew to become a very wise person. He helped a lot of people with his wisdom. One of the ways he did this was by telling stories.

Here is an excerpt from the brilliant book "MY VOICE WILL GO WITH YOU - THE TEACHING TALES OF MILTON ERIKSON" Edited and with commentary by Sidney Rosen.

THE TARAHUMARA INDIANS

The Tarahukmara Indians of southwestern Chihuahua are the ones who can run a hundred miles-their pressure doesn't go up and their heartbeat doesn't change. Some entrepreneur took some hundred mile runners to the Olympics (1928, Amsterdam). They didn't even place. Because, they thought twenty-five miles was when you warmed up! It hadn't been explained to them that their run was twenty-five miles long.

[Sidney Rosen's comments]

I sometimes think about that story when I am having difficulty getting into a task, when I am writing, repairing something around the house, frustrated by difficulties, or literally breathless from jogging. The phrase will come into my head-"I am just warming up now". I usually find more energy available after this.
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When I read this story a light went on in my head too. I saw myself getting bogged down in the future and I the words coming back to me, the idea that I am just getting warmed up will help to make me feel as if I have tonnes more energy and time to spare.