There is a lot written all over the ‘net about getting started. Often including the wonderful Lao-tzu quote:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu
My journey will only be 26.2 miles, but my single step happened incredibly quickly.
Last week, I registered to take on the Brentwood Half Marathon and I’ll shortly be registering myself for the Edinburgh marathon in May. Yesterday, I sat and mapped out my training programme for the next 31 weeks to take me up to race day in Scotland’s second city, which is a scary-looking ramping up of mileage from Christmas onwards.
Like Tor ((who’s doing brilliantly and even Tweeting herself now)), over the next few weeks and months, I’ll be getting used to a new normality. Early rises, pre-dawn runs, strict training diet and abstinence from alcohol on all but the most special of occasions.
Any change in the normality we know and love ((or loath)), it’s going to be tough. But the difficulty of the adaptations and motivations are a huge part of why I want to do this.
I want to challenge myself, I want to push myself, I want to really see what I can do with my new life, my new lungs and my second chance.
Inspiration has rarely been a problem for me. From the remarkable friends I have in my life to the memory of my donor, there are myriad ways for me to keep focused on my ambitions.
Motivation, on the other hand, has often eluded me. Despite the best of intentions, there always seems to be something that holds me back – just that little tiny bit – from pushing on.
Leo Babuta, a guy who regularly blogs on motivation and goal-seeking over at his Zen Habits blog, suggests the smallest step to get you started. While that works for me on many levels (and many projects), I frequently need external motivation to keep me on track.
What is external motivation? For me, it’s simple: fear of public failure.
Although I’ve blogged before about failing and how it’s OK ((and how we often learn more from our failures than our successes)), for something like my marathon challenge I knew that only if I committed to it publicly would I hold myself accountable, simply because people would be watching.
Today I went for my second run; tiny steps, maybe, but a big leap forward for me, as getting past that first run/next run hurdle has always proved a sticking point. If I can nail it next week, I should have formed the habit and can only go from strength to strength from there.
This, then, is a blog readers call-to-action. It’s you that will keep me on track, on target and motivated to succeed. I need all the support you can muster, and probably a good deal more as the time gets closer.
Will you join me for the ride? And what do you need help with motivation for? Reciprocal motivation and support is all set to come your way!
Ever since my transplant, I’ve been telling myself I wanted to take on some major physical challenges, like climbing the 3 Peaks and running a marathon.
The 3 Peaks, as blog readers will know, has now been cancelled twice due to my own poor health, but running a marathon has never really crept onto my radar in any serious way.
At Hope and Abby’s Battlefront event on Saturday, I met a load of other transplant recipients, one of whom immediately challenged me to the Brentwood Half Marathon in March. Without really thinking, I agreed.
Not only that, but the CF Trust have places on the Edinburgh Marathon on May 29th, just 4 days after my 30th birthday. Seems serendipitous to me.
I’ve now committed myself to the mammoth task of learning how to run, getting fit enough to do it and staying motivated enough to not be daunted by the 26.2 miles ahead of me on the start line.
Sometimes all it takes is the smallest of pushes to drive us forward, to take that first small step towards a goal and start building the momentum we need to get us there.
What can you do today to step towards your ultimate goal?