32. The One Percent Rule

Unstoppable Ultra Runner with Susan Donnelly | The One Percent Rule

What if you could carry a ton of doubt all the way to the finish line of your next ultramarathon and still have the race of a lifetime?

In this episode, I’m sharing the one percent rule: a game-changing mindset shift that will change how you think about doubt forever. Instead of trying to feel perfectly confident, you’ll learn what actually matters when your brain starts questioning whether you can keep going.

You’ll hear how to work with doubt instead of against it, how to steady yourself when your confidence dips, and how a tiny shift in belief can create a huge shift in performance. If you’ve ever wondered why some runners stay composed under pressure while others spiral, this episode will show you the difference - and how you can build the same resilience in your own races.

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What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

  • Why you only need 51% belief in yourself to succeed wildly in ultra running.

  • How fighting doubt actually makes it stronger and wastes precious mental energy.

  • Practical strategies for checking in with your belief percentage during training and races.

  • How to use doubt as information rather than evidence you should quit.

  • Why the 1% rule creates more resilience than trying to maintain perfect confidence.

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Full Episode Transcript:

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What if I told you that you could carry a ton of doubt all the way to the finish line of your next ultramarathon and still have the race of a lifetime? That you don't need total bulletproof confidence or a perfect mindset to achieve your goals. This is the story of the 1% rule and how understanding it can transform your relationship with doubt forever.

Welcome to Unstoppable Ultra Runner, the podcast for ultra runners who refuse to let anything hold them back. I’m your host, Susan Donnelly, veteran of over 150 100-mile races, and a coach who helps runners like you break through mental roadblocks, push past doubt, and run with confidence. Let’s go.

Welcome to episode 32. Let's start with a story today. I had this incredible client. She was strong and experienced, and she trained hard for her goal race. And on the surface, things looked really good, even though it was a challenging race. But she DNFed, and it was heartbreaking because I know she's strong enough to do it.

When we debriefed after the race and looked really deeply into why she DNFed and what she could do differently next time, she said this: "The doubt was stronger than I was. I couldn't get it out of my head. Every mile, it just got louder and louder until I couldn't think about anything else, especially as my pace slowed below cutoff. I just couldn't stay positive. The doubt won."

And looking back, we could both see how doubt had been lurking in the background during her training. She ran most of the miles and hit the paces, but had DNFed a couple of build-up races for good-seeming reasons. But in hindsight, we could tell looking back that the doubt was always there in the background influencing her choices.

And because she's a super high achiever, she probably learned to mask the doubt or push past it to make everything look like it was fine, a strategy that probably worked in other areas of your life but just didn't happen to work here. And it's not just her. As you can imagine, doubt is one of the biggest challenges I coach on with ultra runners. So I'm constantly developing new approaches to help my clients with it.

So when she said, "The doubt was stronger than I was," that phrase really caught my attention. In saying that, she framed her DNF like a battle, and doubt had won the battle. Like it was a contest of strength between her and uncertainty, a very all-or-nothing, black-and-white battle where either you won or doubt won.

I regularly see this exact thought pattern playing out with so many of my toughest, most capable clients. They would start looking strong, hit their first real low in a race or serious challenge around mile 30 or 40, and then the doubt that had been lurking in the background would come forward in their minds.

And they'd start thinking, can I really do this? I have so many miles ahead. I should be more confident than this. I should be moving faster. What if I'm not as ready as I thought? And on and on. And instead of dealing with the doubt like we'd coached, they'd panic because they felt doubt. They'd put their heads down and try and push the doubt away or force positive thoughts or pretend that they felt confident when they didn't.

But here's the thing about trying to force doubt away. It's like trying not to think about a pink elephant. The harder you try to push it away or to forget it's there, the more permanently, insistently it stays in your head. And when that's what you're doing mile after mile, trying to make that doubt go away, it actually grows stronger. And as you feel your doubt growing stronger, that becomes evidence that you really can't do this.

So my client definitely wasn't weak. She's tough, she's smart, she's a super high achiever, and she wasn't undertrained, but she was fighting a battle that she was never going to win because she was fighting the wrong battle.

So here's a question for you. How many times have you stood at the starting line of a race feeling anything less than 100% confident? How many times have you heard that voice in your head telling you that it's just not going to work out? You can't do it.

If you're human, the truthful answer is probably every single race, every single time. But somehow, we've bought into this idea that strong runners don't have doubt, that everyone standing next to you at the starting line is confident that they can do it and you're the one lone exception. That confident athletes have this unwavering belief in themselves that never wavers. And it's complete nonsense, but it's incredibly destructive nonsense.

Because here's what actually happens for most runners. They feel doubt, which is completely normal and human. We're going after big challenging goals, after all, that we don't know we can achieve. That's the nature of ultra running.

But when runners feel doubt, they judge themselves for having doubt. They think, “I shouldn't be feeling this way. Strong runners don't doubt themselves. If I was really ready, I wouldn't be questioning whether I can do this. I wouldn't feel this way.”

And then they try and get rid of the doubt. They tell themselves to just think positive. They try to convince themselves and everyone else that they feel confident when they don't, and they resist admitting to the doubt. They fight it. They desperately try and make it all go away.

But doubt doesn't work that way. The more you fight it, the more attention you give it. And the more you need it to go away, the more persistent it becomes. You become more conscious that it's there. It bothers you more. And now you're not just dealing with doubt about the race, you're dealing with doubt about your doubt. You're afraid of feeling uncertain, which creates even more uncertainty. It's like being in quicksand. The more you struggle, the deeper you sink.

And here's the irony in this. All of this fighting and resistance to doubt happens during a race when you need your mental energy for running. When you need to be problem solving and pacing smart, fueling, hydrating, and focusing on what you're actually doing, navigating. But instead, you're waging this internal war against doubt that you can't win, and you're using precious mental energy on something that's not even the real problem.

Because here's what I know after coaching hundreds and hundreds of hours is that the problem isn't the presence of doubt. The problem is believing you need to get rid of all your doubt in order to succeed. We've been taught that confidence means having no doubt, that mental strength means unwavering belief in yourself, that to finish your race or hit your goal, you need to feel 100% certain you can do it. And that's what elite runners do.

But think about this for a second. Has there ever been anything important in your life where you felt 100% certain of the outcome? Like your first job interview or your wedding day, starting a business, having kids, anything. Of course not, because uncertainty is part of doing anything meaningful in life. But somehow, in ultra running, we've convinced ourselves or just accepted this idea that we need this perfect doubt-free mindset to succeed.

And here's what's actually true. You don't need to get rid of all your doubt. You don't need 100% confidence. You don't need to feel certain about your ability to finish. You just need 1% more belief than doubt. This is my 1% rule, and it can change everything for you. All you need is 51% belief in yourself, not 100%, just 51%.

Think about what this means. If you only need 51% belief to succeed, that means you can carry 49% doubt all the way to the finish line. Nearly half your mental space can be occupied with uncertainty and questions and yes, even doubt, and you can still have an incredible race.

Let me say that again because it is so important. You can doubt nearly half of your ability to succeed and still succeed wildly. This isn't about lowering your standards or accepting mediocrity. You can absolutely have more than 51% confidence if you want and if you can build it, and that's great.

But this is about understanding how the human mind actually works under pressure. This is about giving yourself permission to be human while still achieving extraordinary things.

When you understand the 1% rule, everything can change because instead of trying to eliminate doubt completely, which is impossible, you can focus on tipping the scales just slightly in favor of belief. Instead of needing perfect confidence, you just need marginally more belief than doubt. And here's the really beautiful thing about this, 51% to 49% is readily achievable. It's realistic. It's human. You can easily get there.

Think about how it plays out in a race. Let's say you're at mile 60 and you're feeling rough and you're feeling every one of those miles, you're close to cutoff and doubt starts feeling too big. But instead of panicking because you're not feeling 100% confident that you can get through the miles ahead, you check in with yourself and you say something like this.

Okay, where am I now? Am I at 40% belief, 60% doubt? Okay, I'm going to boost my belief a little. Let's see. What are the reasons I can keep going at finish?

And then maybe you remind yourself of your training, all the miles and hours you put in. Maybe you think about much harder races that you've finished. Maybe you think about your why and what you're willing to do to finish. Maybe you think about how you can gain time on the next section ahead. Maybe you focus on how easy it is to believe that you can just get to the next aid station.

You're not trying to become bulletproof or invincible here. You're just trying to get to 51% belief. And often, that's way easier than you think.

When you're not trying to eliminate doubt completely, when you stop making the presence of doubt mean that you're weak, it loses a lot of its power. When you're not afraid of feeling uncertain, uncertainty just becomes information instead of evidence that you should quit.

The 1% rule also means that you can have a bad patch or patches and still finish strong. You can go through miles where doubt is winning 70 to 30 without giving up. It's just a temporary low spot. You know that you can get back to 51% belief and that you're still in the game. This gives you so much more resilience. Instead of one wave of doubt meaning that your race is over, you understand that doubt comes and goes. Confidence ebbs and flows, and you just need to stay on the positive side of that line more often than not.

Here's where the 1% rule gets really interesting now. When you truly make peace with carrying 49% uncertainty, something magical often happens. The doubt becomes just irrelevant. I know this sounds contradictory, but here's what I mean. When you're fighting doubt in a race, you're giving it all your attention. You're making getting rid of it the goal.

But when you say, "Okay, doubt, you can be here. You can take up to 49% of my mental space and I'm still going to finish this race." When you say that to yourself, doubt stops being a problem and you get back to making finishing the race your goal.

It's like a playground bully who only picks on kids who are afraid. The moment you stop being afraid, they lose interest. Doubt often works the same way. When it's not getting the reaction it's looking for, like panic or resistance or fighting against it, it often just settles into the background, like wallpaper.

And this is exactly what happened to another client in her recent race. She went into the race with as much belief as she could muster and a strong dash of hope. But then travel the day before the race didn't go according to plan and it kind of wore her out. And a moment or two after the race started, she realized she left her water bottle at the start and had to go back to get it. And then she missed her crew at an early aid station and things kept going wrong.

But each time, instead of building these problems into a reason to panic or a reason to not believe that she could finish the race, she just shrugged and thought, you know, it'll be fine. I'll figure it out. And she did finish strong.

And afterwards, here's what she said: "I guess doubt was there, but I didn't really think about it. I was busy running. And when doubt did start getting bigger that I noticed it, I didn't freak out because it just wasn't as important as what I was doing. Running the race - that was way more interesting." That's the power of the 1% rule. It's not just about managing doubt. It's about fundamentally changing your relationship with it so it stops controlling your races.

So how do you actually practice and apply this rule? Here's some practical strategies. First, during your training, practice checking in with your belief percentage about the race. Like when you're doing a hard workout or a long run. When things get tough, ask yourself, where am I right now? Would it be 60% belief, 40% doubt, 45% belief, 55% doubt? Get used to checking in and be honest with yourself about the answer.

And if you find yourself below 51% belief, don't panic. Just ask, how can I believe a little bit more? And go find reasons you can believe a little bit more. Maybe it's remembering another time that you pushed through something hard or maybe it's eating something to perk up your energy. Maybe it's adjusting your pace so you feel more in control. You're not trying to go from 30% to 90% belief, especially in one big jump. You're just getting to 51% and small, manageable shifts work.

Second, practice talking to yourself in the language of 1%. Instead of, “I have to stop doubting myself,” try, “Of course I have doubt, but I can carry these doubts and still finish strong.” Instead of, “I need to feel confident,” try, “I just need to believe slightly more than I doubt.”

This language, using this language is powerful because it changes how you think about doubt entirely and you hear yourself saying this stuff. Instead of treating doubt as the enemy that has to be defeated, you're treating it as something normal that you can coexist with. Doubt stops being a problem to solve and just becomes part of the experience.

Okay, a third way you can practice it is to remember in the time leading up to the race and in the race that 49% doubt is fine. When doubt shows up, and it will, remind yourself that it can take up nearly half your mental space and you can still succeed wildly. This removes the urgency and the panic about feeling doubt.

And finally, the last tip is use doubt as information, not evidence. When doubt comes up, ask yourself what it's trying to tell you. Maybe you need to fuel up to raise your energy and get into a more optimistic mood. Maybe you need to slow your pace to something that's more sustainable. Maybe you need to remember your race plan for the miles ahead. Doubt can be a useful signal when you're not too busy trying to push it away.

One cool thing is that the 1% rule isn't just about ultra running. It's about how we approach any challenging goal in life. It's permission to be human while still achieving extraordinary things. It's understanding that perfection isn't required for excellence.

When we release ourselves from the impossible standard of needing perfect confidence, we actually become more confident because we're no longer afraid of feeling doubt. When we stop fearing uncertainty and accept the possibility of failure, we become more resilient. When we understand that 51% belief in ourselves is enough to get really big things done, we discover we're capable of so much more than we thought.

So the next time you're standing at a start line or facing any big challenge in life, remember the 1% rule. You don't need perfect confidence. You don't need to eliminate all doubt. You just need 51% belief in yourself, and that you can absolutely do.

All right, you all, that's this week's episode. Thanks for listening. If you know someone who could use this, please share it with them. It might be exactly what they need to hear. See you all next week. Bye.

Thanks for listening to Unstoppable Ultra Runner. If you want more ultra talk, mindset tools, and strategies for running with confidence, visit www.susanidonnelly.com. This podcast receives production support from the team at Digital Freedom Productions. That’s it for today’s episode. See you next week.

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Susan Donnelly

Susan is a life coach for ultrarunners. She helps ultrarunners build the mental and emotional management skills so they can see what they’re capable of.

http://www.susanidonnelly.com
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31. The Fantasy Race Fallacy