Earlier this week, I signed up for my sixth marathon in as many years – the Hartford Marathon. This will assist me in completing my overall goal – running a marathon in all 50 states.
The marathon signifies so many things to me – perseverence, dedication, development, pushing yourself to your limits and beyond, attitude, focus, and more. People ask me how I can do it, year after year. How can I do all the training that is required, especially with a young family. How can I run 4 hours straight. How can I be excited about getting out an running in the rain in the early morning. How can I…
The simple answer is that I can’t do any of that – what I can do is be someone who takes one step and then another and then another. It’s not about running 26.2 miles – it’s about running up to the next corner, or taking the next step – pushing myself to do just one more because I know I can. Small and simple is the way you do a marathon. As the old Chinese proverb goes – the journey of a thousand miles begins with one first step. The same is true with a marathon.
The more complex answer is that running a marathon is my way of unleashing courage – in myself and in others. There’s plenty to write about on that, but I’ll stick to the subject at hand.
The key for you, my dear reader, is to relate the marathon to yourself. What is your marathon? Is it your business? The characteristics of a successful business include these words: perseverence, dedication, development, pushing yourself to your limits and beyond, attitude, focus, and more.
So answer the same questions as they relate to your business – how do you work so long and hard? How do you run a business with a young family? How do you run a business…(fill in your own questions that you hear). You know the answers – it’s remembering the answers that keeps you going.
Remember you motivation each day. And if anyone else is running the Hartford Marathon on Oct. 11, 2008, please let me know – I’ll keep an eye out for you.
