Could be a creek like the one in front of my wife above, might be rain, might be your just spent and cannot give any more. I experience this a lot with running. Especially when I am training for my next PR or a longer run my body isn’t ready for. The point is in the title, THERE IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE A REASON FOR NOT.
There are however just as many reasons for why not. We just don’t pause long enough to discover and explore what some of those are. Better yet, getting really intentional before we start with a plan to give us the fastest easiest start possible.
Let me illustrate. I found it really hard to get up for runs in the morning that were long, get all my gear on, get something in my stomach, and then go for a double digit outing. My brain just didn’t like it, to much to prep and do before I even got into the run. I went to shut down and excuse land 50% of the time not even going for the run. What was worse, I had regret when I got to the end of the day which depressed me and sometimes made me really disappointed in myself. I get really down on myself in those instances.
Discovering a best practice online and from friends who I shared the above dilemma I got this strategy:
- Lay my gear out the night before I want to wear so I don’t have to dig for it in the morning. If it’s a really long run, I wear it to bed for pajamas. They’re going to get all sweaty the next morning anyway, don’t judge.
- Prep my food for the week for each day I have a morning run. All I do is like my gear, lay it out where I can get it with minimal energy, woof it down, and be on my way to the next task to get out there.
- Water, snacks, and my running gear I put for the longer runs at the door I leave from. This is so all I do is pick it up, put it on, and my carb/energy bars are already in the vest good to go.
I went from a drop out rate of 50% of the time not running/starting to almost 10% or less in a week. I completed more runs with that strategy than with out it. I felt accomplished as I got in more runs. Added benefit, I felt great and fit.
Here’s the GTTW (Going to the Well) take away. If we don’t prepare for those big goals and do(s) and try to do it in the moment, the chances are super high, you won’t even start. You find more why’s that you don’t want to get started. Anything challenging in front of you deserves intentionality applied to it. Being intentional with our starts almost always becomes a catalyst for us to get through it and achieve it. Intentional planning that happens at times the day before for the next day.
Ask around, get some feedback. There are others out there trying to dig deep and just get out there to accomplish some really big things. You may find like I did, the simple habit that can get you off to a incredible start is in your social circles already. Don’t work so hard, work smarter.
If you got time, check out the about page for Going to the Well to understand how these posts will be slightly different then the standard IBtP posts. Thanks for reading and commenting!
🙌🏻 Shawn
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