Lessons learned from a day of self inflicted suffering

Disclaimer: I am not a runner.

In fact I really, really don't like running. 5 km is agony for me.

For context, I'm 5'10" 185lbs, flat footed with a body that has endured over 20 years of competitive combat sports. In short, I'm no Eliud Kipchoge.

Despite this, I've always felt that developing the body serves as a foundation for the development of the mind and lately I have found myself drawn to the challenge of endurance running due to the many parallels to building a company.

Since I often preach about the growth that occurs when you step outside what is comfortable into the unknown and uncomfortable, it was time to walk the talk.

My good friend Joseph Bentley and I set the goal of climbing 4 different mountains in a single day to put ourselves firmly outside our comfort zones, find our physical/mental limits and see what lessons we can learn.

Starting at 5am and finishing by headlamp at 1am after 60km, 5000m in elevation gain, 4 mountain peaks and 19hr 16min of non-stop exertion we completed the 4 peaks challenge and learned a few valuable lessons I thought I would share:

1. Break challenges down to the smallest pieces possible. Whenever the thought of having to summit another peak entered my mind, I wanted to quit. In order to keep going, we had to break everything down to: one more km, one more hill, one more step. If something seems too big to conquer, break it down to bite sized chunks.

2. Hard work beats talent. I am a terrible endurance athlete but once my mind had accepted that I was going to do it, my body found a way to keep going. You don't always need to be the smartest or strongest to win. Set your mind to the task and don't give up. We're capable of so much more than the limits we set on ourselves.

3. Some lessons can only be learned by making a plan, putting yourself in deep water and learning how to swim. Set a goal, surround yourself with people who support you (shoutout to my incredible wife) and get after it. You will surprise yourself with what you learn in the process.

While these seem cliched and I certainly had heard of these lessons prior to running the challenge, experiencing them first hand in a single day has help me understand them in practice.

Completing this challenge has reminded me of how energizing it is to set and achieve goals, even if they are completely made up and foolhardy. Now, as we set out to build Neo Financial, I am excited to apply these learnings to helping the millions of Canadians and small businesses that are in need of change in the world of banking.

Looking forward to the challenge.