Asignatura Pendiente
This is the 9th time for me. As you read this, I’m likely on the roads of Barcelona running (or may have just finished) my 9th marathon.
When I was an Olympic canoeing athlete, I never thought I’d run regularly.
In 2010, I moved to Oklahoma City. Running became a convenient outlet to get some exercise and meet people. The running community’s support for the Oklahoma National Memorial became my gateway to running a marathon. Even now, though my family and I live in Europe, my participation in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon is an annual staple in my life.
Joe, you are about to get busted.
For years here at Sunday Morning Joe, I’ve found many ways to say that I’m just not that into goals. Goals remind me of what I don’t have yet, which reduces my attention to the attributes I have right now and which I use to move forward today.
Please don’t ask any of my friends and training partners here in La Seu d’Urgell to name a goal that they would associate with me. If you did, 100% of them would instantly respond, “Joe wants to qualify for the Boston Marathon.”
They’re not wrong. The Boston Marathon isn’t an open race — a runner must qualify based off of a time-standard within their age group. For me, at 48 years-old, my qualifying standard is under 3 hours and 25 minutes. With each passing marathon, I increasingly ask, “Will this qualifying race be the one?”
Maybe the 9th time is a charm?
Not until this month, did I realize that maybe Boston has NOT been a goal after all.
Perhaps Boston is my Asignatura Pendiente. That’s Spanish for: “Pending Subject.”
It was a few weeks ago I heard, “Asignatura Pendiente,” as it rolled off the lips of one of my closest Catalan friends. The intention with which he said it gave me a moment of pause. Those two words mean something. I memorized the two-word phrase all the way back to our apartment where I grabbed my pencil and jotted it down.
I was fortunate to learn more about this expression a few nights later. There is nothing more enriching than discussing a deep topic over Friday night drinks and tapas with your Catalan friends.
“What’s the difference between Pending Subject and a Goal?” I asked in English.
“Asignatura Pendiente can’t be translated into one word. It’s more finessed. It means you had the chance to accomplish the objective before. And still do. It just hasn’t been done yet.”
My quick deduction here is that our Asignatura Pediente is not our latest big idea cooked up at the recent goal-setting workshop. Perhaps it involves struggle. Or, perhaps it means upending some secure habits.
As more of my friends chime in, it becomes clear that experience and perspective affect how people speak about their own Asignatura Pendiente. I consider how easily we can bury these pending subjects for fear of not disrupting the life-shaping rules and systems set for us by other people.
Asignatura Pendiente isn’t Mission Accomplished.
It’s not an ends. And it’s not a means. And it’s more than a process. Asignatura Pendiente is a way of life. It encompasses the patience to collect life experiences and the mindfulness to fold them into daily pursuits every day, step by step.
As I break down my past 15 weeks of marathon training, I realize:
I pushed through physical discomfort I never thought possible.
I built beautiful friendships with people for whom I’m grateful to have spent time.
I gained technical experience I can apply to other life pursuits and adventures.
3 hours and 25 seconds and Boston may be my pending subjects for this period of my life. But the subject does not stand alone. As the “pending” part guides what matters most in my life.
Without the nuance of Pendiente, I would continue my life quest to define or obtain the Asignatura… the subject.
Transformation seems nourished by the quiet persistence of the Pendiente…
Hold that thought. More to come. I’ve got a run to go do.
With gratitude,
Joe
Ps — If you enjoyed this post, it would mean a great deal to me if you shared it. Please use the hashtag #PendingSubject
Hi, I’m Joe, the owner of 5 With Joe Performance Coaching. My clients are leaders, organizations, and teams who utilize my Olympic Gold Medal performance strategies and 40 years of navigating whitewater river rapids to streamline decision making and actions when engaged in complicated river currents of business and life.
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