Life Isn’t an 800: prioritization is a strength, not laziness
Former track athlete Natalie Marcotullio uses her 800 meter race experience to frame hard conversations, set boundaries, and prioritize what's actually valuable.
Natalie ran the 800 in high school, a race everyone agrees is just the worst. She says it was two minutes of putting her body through as much pain as possible while trying to stay mentally sharp. Now, whenever she has to do something hard, like give a big presentation, she reminds herself that it is not an 800. It helps her reframe a scary thing into something she chose to do.
Saying no is one of the most important things she does for her mental health at work. She has a whole framework for it, but the gist is to swap requests out instead of giving a hard no, or to use data to show the trade offs. For her own marketing team, everything has to pass her unique and valuable test. She has no problem turning down a campaign that would probably work if it does not meet that standard.
Her personal red flag for burnout is when any new idea feels overwhelming and she defaults to saying no to everything. Her first fix is usually a good night of sleep. With her team, she shows mental health matters by being ruthless with prioritization and taking things off their plate. She also reminds them that rest is a requirement for optimal performance, not a sign of laziness.
“There is no true marketing emergency.”
Notes
- She ran the 800 meter race in school and now uses it as a mental benchmark: when something is hard, she tells herself, 'it's not an 800'.
- She uses a 'unique and valuable' framework for marketing and has said no to campaigns that would have been successful because they did not fit it.
- When her team is stressed, she removes tasks from their plate, telling them it is not their priority for the month.
- A personal red flag for burnout is when the idea of any new task feels overwhelming and stressful.