The Push to the End

When the light at the end of the tunnel is near, the hope and anticipation you have for the end increases. The battle you have waged in order to reach the end is finally approaching its final song. You are finally reaching the culmination of everything you have worked for. In normal circumstances your mind, body, and soul would all be struggling to continue, the amount of work undertaken up to this point almost forces you to the breaking point. But something interesting happens as you reach the finish line, you actually find yourself becoming stronger. In the push to the end, your body wakes up and propels you forward. You’re no longer struggling to move, your actions are shot out of a cannon. In the push to the end, you reach your physiological maximum because the end is in sight. Your brain flips the switch from being in pain and from being tired to channeling everything that’s stored inside as a final release for maximum performance.

This phenomenon of finding extra performance near the end of a task is called teleoanticipation. The anticipation of the end of a physical task allows for a more efficient and full expenditure of energy. This occurs most commonly with athletes. In endurance events it is why athletes oftentimes have a faster last sector, they no longer have to pace themselves, and they give in to the final push to the end. Their mind stops holding them back. Their mind stops conserving energy and lets the muscles do what they were trained to do— perform.

In the 2010 Winter Olympics, the men’s 50-kilometer Cross-Country Ski Mass Start featured an intensely close sprint to the finish. The fifth-place finisher finished 1.6 seconds behind the gold medal winner. Meaning that after 50 kilometers, over 31 miles, there were 5 athletes separated by a razor-thin margin of less than 2 seconds. The difference between receiving a medal and not was less than 1 second. Performance over 31 miles came down to the final push to the end. A final push to the end where the mind shuts off and lets the body perform.

There are countless other examples of where the finish line being in sight lets athletes and people push to the end. A marathoner or Iron Man participant collapses after crossing the finish line, a Doctor falls asleep in the operating room after a long surgery, and a sales associate reaches his annual quota with days to spare. With the end in sight, you will find your body expending its maximum performance. If you haven’t quit prior to the end being in sight, you won’t quit now. You’ll keep pushing, you’ll keep going, you will reach your maximum potential until you cross the line. Any and all performance up to the point where you can sniff the finish line has led you to this point. Once the finish line is in sight your mind will shut off and let your body take control. The training wheels will be off, you’ll be on your own. You will finish. You will push to the end.