Business Lessons from the Half-Marathon, Part 1

Posted on November 24, 2008 - Filed Under Jane Thoughts

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I ran a half-marathon.  This race was different, not just because it’s farther than I’ve ever run before (13.1 miles), but because I’m normally a treadmill runner and this was a cross-country race.  The course was a trail run through the Alafia River State Park – and it’s nothing like running on my usual treadmill.  The ground was uneven, I encountered different surfaces that I didn’t expect, and the going was much slower than I anticipated.  Still, I finished!  And I’m proud of that.

 

In the afternoon, I was online, updating my FaceBook page, when it suddenly dawned on me that there are a lot of similarities between running that half marathon and running my business.  Over the next week, I’d like to share with you seven lessons I learned from the race that we can all apply to our lives and businesses:

 

1.      Sometimes, you have to “Just Do It!”

 

I’d had this race on my calendar for a couple of months, but I just hadn’t gotten around to paying to register.  I’d been training for it, and saying I was going to do it.  Then, however, a crazy-busy business travel period came up.  I was in 5 cities in 10 days just prior to the race.  I got home on Friday, seriously thinking about bailing on the Sunday event (remember, I hadn’t registered yet).  I was tired.  I hadn’t trained the way I wished.  I was afraid I wouldn’t do it well.

 

But then I started thinking about how guilty I’d feel if I didn’t do it.  And then I realized that, if I bail on it now, I might never actually do it.  I realized it was the voice of fear holding me back ….. and I hate that voice!  So I immediately got online, registered, and committed myself.  And now, looking back, I am so glad I just did it.  Because now, I’m a person who has run a half-marathon … instead of a person who dreams about doing it.

 

What have you been hesitating about that you can now “just do”?

 

 

 

 

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