Those of you who have been following me for a while on Insta will know that I love to run – it’s my form of meditation, how I clear my head and get the ol’ heart pumping.
Before I had kids I used to get up at 5.30 every morning to run. It was my little routine back when I worked in the corporate retail world and it really helped me set up my day. But then I had kids and well, the idea of getting up that early when I’d been up half the night already didn’t REALLY appeal 😉
Fast forward to 2020 and I rediscovered my old love – it became my 1 hour break away from the rollercoaster of lockdown life. And I’ve kept it up (albeit a little inconsistently) ever since.
Whilst I was on a run today it occurred to me, running and running a business are not all that different. Perhaps that’s why I love them both so much.
I’m going to share why….
They both require stamina
You know that old saying, small biz life is a marathon and not a race?! Well, where do you think that comes from?!
To become a good runner, you need to build yourself up to it; slowly, consistently & methodically. You need to increase your aerobic fitness slowly, first by walking, making your way to jogging then, with time & training, running.
You may then decide you want to run a marathon to really push your boundaries and see what you can achieve. And so you begin training towards your first 2km, 5km, 10km…. And with every milestone you reach, you pat yourself on the back then keep pushing to the next, and the next and the next. True fulfillment will come when you accomplish things you never dreamed you could achieve.
But you also understand that these things take TIME. You don’t wake up one morning and decide to run a 10km race. If you do, not only will you probably not be able to walk for a week afterwards, you’ll more than likely injure yourself, or worse yet, give up because it was too hard.
And we all know what happens when we give up don’t we?!
The same can be said of running a business. Yes, it’s hard work, yes, there’ll be days that you can’t be bothered, it will seem daunting, exhausting and like it may kill you 😉
BUT the reward when you get through each hurdle, when you reach each goal you set for yourself, is like no other feeling in this world. And you know why?! Because you did it – you set yourself the task, you planned how you’d get yourself there and you made it happen.
You crossed that finish line – celebrate the win and when you’re ready, set a new one and keep going!
They give you clarity
As with any repetitive task, it can give you the opportunity to really clear your mind, think through things in a logical manner and figure out the answer to the question in your mind.
I find the meditative nature of running perfect for this – as you pound the pavement with every step, you have no choice but to concentrate on your breathing, eyes looking straight ahead to where you’re headed, your destination right in front of you. You’re thinking about nothing except when you’ll get there and how amazing you’ll feel once you do.
Running your business is exactly like this. Whilst there are many more facets to it and it may not feel as relaxing or calming, the journey is the same.
You have your eyes on your destination – you know exactly what you’re working towards and as you start your journey, the path to it becomes clearer; you find clarity around what you want and how you are going to achieve it.
You may try to veer off the path as new opportunities come up, but as you try each one, ultimately, what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve them will become clearer and you’ll be able to ignore those shiny objects that aren’t aligned with your goal.
They keep you accountable
This one is my favorite. Accountability is the key to success and in order to be successful, you need to keep yourself in check.
It’s so easy to lose your focus… we can find every excuse in the book not to do something or to change routines, to say ‘eh, I’ll start again next week’, or ‘it’s too cold, I’ll wait for it to warm up again’.
But you know what happens when we make excuses?! We’re lying to ourselves. We play small and stay small – we end up listening to the limiting beliefs that say we’re not good enough, not fit enough, not STRONG enough to step into our power, to be seen and heard.
You can see how this goes for both running and running a biz, right?!
Do you know how many times you need to do something before it becomes routine? Before it becomes a habit?!
According to James Clear, author of one of my favourite books “Atomic Habits”, it takes 21 days before an activity or change becomes a habit, becomes part of your routine.
So imagine what you could achieve if you stuck to the same routine for 21 days?
Imagine if you started a new exercise routine for 21 days… how incredible and strong and healthy you would feel?!
Imagine if you started a new routine in your biz for 21 days… imagine what you could achieve, the goals you could be working towards, the audience you stand to serve, if you committed to them by staying consistent, ACCOUNTABLE for 21 days?!
So, this is my CALL TO ACTION to you, my friends – what could you commit to for the next 21 days?
Share with me below, or send me a DM with ‘ACCOUNTABLE’ and share your promise to yourself – I can’t wait to share the win with you soon!
If you loved the little nuggets in this post and want to hear more, come and join me on my new podcast The Brand Collective. Launching 1st September I’ll be sharing so much goodness around how to build a strong brand that leads with soul and serves with purpose. To find out more, click here!
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