Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality

"your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality." ~Ralph Marston

Why is it so much easier to question myself than it is to be encouraged? I am finding that almost every time I push myself hard for a race or a long run I am constantly questioning myself. Lately the voices ask; “why have I decided to sign up for this 50K and more importantly why did I tell anyone I was going to do it?” and “It would be so much easier if I kept my big mouth shut to change my plans.” Maybe I just answered my own question, because now that I have put it out there I feel more responsibility to stick with it. I want to accomplish this goal but not put so much pressure on myself that I burn out or be miserable doing it. The last thing I want to do is dread the day I am attempting one of the biggest physical and mental achievements of my life.

One thing I have realized is that I enjoy running much more when I am running because I want to and not because I have to. The time between finishing the 1000 miles for WWP and the last few weeks getting ready for the half were enjoyable and rewarding because I was keeping up with and even increasing my weekly mileage without an obligation to do so. It seems that every time I put myself on a rigid schedule it immediately puts pressure on me and takes the fun out. If I cannot fix this situation it is going to be a LONG winter and spring. I want to work hard and enjoy running so I would like to make this work. I almost wish I had not committed myself to the big goal but that is what I have always done and this year is about breaking out of the safety zone.

When it comes to dealing with traffic, exhaust fumes and sidewalks (I really dislike sidewalks) I think more trails is the way to go. So for now, I will continue and work on all these things I have listed. Running on the roads and paved trails when I have to and hitting the trails every chance I get. I am staying on track for the April 50K but I will need to work hard as the days get shorter and colder!

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of Eric Orton Global Run Academy to add comments!

Join Eric Orton Global Run Academy

Comments

  • Thank you! I know deep down that I am making progress and my form and running efficiency is much better now than a year ago. Even before I started running, I was always running from the interior voices and questioning myself. The biggest difference now is that I have times now when the voices start during a run and I challenge them to hang on until I am finished. More times than not they quit before I do now. 

    I don't think I have ever been so inspired or determined in my life since reading The Cool Impossible. 

  • Great post Eric.  I believe that doubts and fears are necessary for great things to happen. What is important is how we react to these thoughts.  They will always be there, but we DO NOT have to believe the thoughts - they are just thoughts and we DO have the choice to believe them as true or as just thoughts.  Once we see them as just thoughts, we can gain knowledge about ourselves and more past them and continue to act towards our goals.

    "It is not important what we think, but how we act after we think that is important."

    Thanks for this post - keep putting yourself out there!

This reply was deleted.