“Go one more” is a turn-of-phrase that seems to be ripping its way through the fitness community. It’s hard to go for a run in my town without seeing a hat with the slogan plastered front and center. On one hand, I can see and agree with the appeal. Go one more is a motivating command that carries metaphorical weight beyond the instruction itself, ordering us to push past our physical limits and inspiring us to go above and beyond in all of our endeavors.
Even though the innocuous view is obviously how the tagline wants to be positioned, I can’t help but see it in a more negative light. Primarily because, I am ostensibly against false summits, which are exactly what go one more asks us to find. In a way, go one more is a lot like moving the goal post, except in this case, for some reason – we’re the ones moving it.
I’m a huge advocate of doing things that feel hard or challenging. But I’m also an advocate of simply doing what I set out to do, even if after I’ve done it my tank is not empty. Continually moving the goal post or consistently presenting myself with false summits means that a job well-done is at worst, perpetually slightly out of reach, or at best achievable, but hidden behind an intentionally obfuscated barrier I am supposed to refuse to anticipate.
Maybe I’m extra-sensitive to being presented with a false summit, but I can’t help but think that go one more is jut another vestige of the now memeified “grindset.” I see go one more as a short-sighted bumper-sticker that, if followed will lead to an inevitable burnout. If you want me to leave it all out on the court just say that, there’s no need to subjugate me to the heart-wrenching cycle of reaching a peak then moving the summit.