Chris Bellesini
This is an old analogy but one worth talking about as yesterday I attended the Melbourne Marathon to cheer on a few friends. Having completed the race two years ago I know what it feels like to run the 42.195km race (and trust me that last 195m hurts). There are two important lessons here, firstly on pushing your comfort zone and secondly, making it to the finish line.
Pushing Your Comfort Zone
Typically when training for a marathon you go for a 20km run one weekend, 22km the next, 24km the next and so on until reaching about 34km. The idea is that you build up your body to run a distance greater than you have ever done before to push your limits and then go a little bit further the following week. Each time pushing your bodies comfort zone to go into unknown territory. This is the same with anything we do in our careers, our relationships and any other sporting endeavours. We need to continually go that little bit further and continually improve that little bit more.
For anyone who has never run 10km before it would be a big ask to jump to 42km. Not that this can’t be done but it can be a poor strategy to take on too much and set yourself up to fail. It is better to set that goal of running 42km and setting a realistic timeline to achieve this goal and chip away at it so you achieve that goal.
Crossing The Finish Line
The second lesson is of following through. There is a big difference between those that complete a marathon and those that fall just short. When you complete a marathon, that can never be taken away from you, you join an elite group of athletes who have gone the distance. You can say ‘I have done a marathon!’ The time the marathon is completed in is secondary, the feeling of crossing that line and completing a marathon is what will be remembered. You don’t remember the score in a grand final, just who won.
A race can be split up into two parts. The first 34km and the last 8km. If you have done the right training the first 34km should be relativity easy as you have done this before. It is at this point though that your body can start to hit the wall and your mind tries to convince you to stop. In life we run marathons all the time where we cruise for the first three quarters of a task as we have done before, but it is that last 25% that is scary as it is out of your comfort zone.
Unlike a marathon where you know there is a finish line, lifes finish lines are not always obvious. You can be trying hard in a business or a venture and actually be 95% of the way to success but give up too soon as that last 5% of the race is the hardest. There have been people in history that have dug for gold only to give up and see the next person come in a chip away another 10cm and strike it lucky.
Life is a Marathon not a sprint so I encourage you to go the extra distance in whatever you do and cheer you on to cross that line and achieve all you want to achieve.
Chris Bellesini
Remember, You Too, Can
Choose Your Own Success
