My running partner and I have this running joke, er ongoing joke: when we meet up, one of us asks the other why we’re running instead of getting coffee. The other replies we will next time. Then we laugh and get our run on. In reality, you’ve got to have a reason. And it had better be a good one because life gets in the way. Excuses will emerge and everything you hear and see will make you think twice about running. Once you have that reason? Well you’d better believe in it. You will need faith in your reason to get out of bed at 5 am or hit the gym after work or the treadmill after the kids are finally asleep. That reason will be your motivation when you skip a workout or two or a month. It will be what drives you to get up off the mat and start again. This is where your why carries you. Creating a strong why is paramount to your success, not just at running, but at life in general. If you know your why and embrace it, you will feel empowered and motivated to achieve your goals.
There’s so many whys out there and most of them use running as a means to an end, that is to say running is the tool you use to reach your goal. Which is perfectly fine. Want to lose weight? Yep. Want to be stronger? More endurance? Yes. Want to just be healthier? Want your clothes to fit better? Sure. Want quiet time alone or with friends that costs exactly zero dollars? Indeed. Want to look good naked? Well…no promises.
Simon Sinek author of Finding Your Why: A Practical Guide for Finding Purpose for You and Your Team puts it this way, “It will serve as your point of reference for all your actions and decisions from this moment on…” I know what you’re thinking. Whoa hold on there Dr. G, we’re just talking about running, not some transformative ethos. Agreed, I’ll leave that up to the philosophers, psychologists, and spiritualists. But I like the way Mr. Sinek puts it, a reference point for your decisions and actions. That’s what you need in order to stick with running, a powerful reason to act.
Many books and articles have been written on how to find your why and they all use slightly different approaches. However, a common thread can be teased out. All techniques require one to ask themselves and answer honestly questions about, well, themselves. In a word, introspection. And hey, who doesn’t want to take a long hard look at themselves and try to figure out how they got here? Sounds important, but again I’ll leave that up to someone else with better training and a lot more patience.
This why, your running why, is about forward motion. It’s about where you want to be and how you are going to get there. So ask yourself questions, but focused within a framework of the future. For example, I have many running whys, but a major why is to maintain a high level of energy to be the best dad I can be. Kids are draining and I want to have the energy it requires to be the type of dad I want to be. It may seem counterintuitive, but running (or exercise of any kind along with proper nutrition and rest) actually boosts your energy level. So one of my whys is to be a good dad and to do that I need the energy that comes from running.
More quotes than I can recount here have been made on getting started, but arguably the most prevalent is, “The hardest step is the first step out of the door” and it’s true. However, continuing to take steps or even to start taking steps again after stopping can be just as daunting. So if you’ve gotten yourself out of the door and taken that first step, strengthen your why now, build on it if you can. Then when life starts to get in your way, your why will be there to push you through.
#grinditoutrunning
