The Hardest Part Of Running The Race

People tend to glamorize things and today I’m going to give you the truth, using the metaphor of running a marathon. 

When we have a goal or project ahead of us the one thing we’re looking forward to, that motivates us, is the sense of accomplishment we’ll get when we hit the finish line. It’s that moment where you get to reflect on what you just did and remind yourself of what you’re capable of.

And it’s anything but easy. There are many challenges, setbacks, and obstacles that get in between you and the finish line. You hit the wall and you need to fight through. You get a cramp and you need to take a break. You miscount your miles and realize you’re not halfway yet when you thought you passed it a while ago. 

But do you know what is the most difficult part of running the race that is often overlooked?

It’s getting to the starting line. 

The main reason people don’t experience the fulfillment of running a marathon doesn’t have anything to do with the race itself. It’s everything that happens (or doesn’t happen) before the race even starts. 

There are countless people who commit to running a marathon in any given year but only a fraction of them do. And the fall off doesn’t happen during the race, it happens in the steps before.

Metaphor aside, this is true for everything. The hardest part to anything is just showing up. It’s making the commitment, deepening your investment, being serious about what you want, and then beginning to follow through. 

We often wait to feel a certain way - motivated, inspired, in flow, or for the time to be right - in order to take next steps on what we want. But that waiting is better described as delaying, postponing, or wasting valuable time in pursuit of what you want.

Maybe you wish you would’ve started sooner. There’s a Chinese proverb that goes “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is now.” If you can make the decision to get yourself to the starting line, today, so that you can begin the process of getting what you want, then there’s your next step.

And this is where I”m giving you one last opportunity to do exactly that - to get that hardest part behind you once and for all. The 21 day Best Self Breakthrough Challenge starts today, March 6th, and it’s not too late to be a part of it. Together we’ll install the 2 habits that activate a life-time of high performance so that you start getting more done in a day than you do in a week, and get more consistent with the meditation, exercise, and self-care habits that make you feel at your best. And you can make the choice right now to step up to the starting line, to see your path forward toward your fullest potential, and to start moving forward.