No, I don’t actually believe every leader should run a full marathon. In fact, many should not, and for excellent reasons. I chose to run 26.2 miles because it was on my bucket list before I turned 40, and I wanted to challenge myself to do something I never thought I would have thought or imagined myself doing.
I believe every leader needs to do something complex, challenging, or significant. It does not need to be a marathon. But there are things that you have always dreamed of doing or accomplishing, and you know what those are because it scares you. It may be climbing a mountain, writing a book, or starting a new business or organization.
I hope you will consider doing those challenging things in your life because you will be a better leader and person when you do. You will grow and mature in ways that you did not think before doing it. I’ve learned some lessons from my challenge to run 26.2 miles, and I hope it encourages and inspires you to take up your challenge.
Gives You More Time
Time is an essential commodity for leaders. You have a certain amount of time for all the different buckets in your life for work, family, friends, kids, marriage, and church. It may seem daunting to add a challenge in your life that could take away from these critical areas of life. But when you do take hold of a challenge, it does give you more time. It doesn’t add more time in a literal sense, but it makes you a better manager of time.
Challenges force you to prioritize what is important and cut out those that are not. For instance, I had to run four times a week. In some weeks, I had to carve out ten hours to run. That’s a part-time job. I had to make some hard choices such as balancing all that running with work and family. I had to focus and make some sacrifices. So I changed my morning routine to wake up earlier to train. This forced me to sleep earlier. I still made time for important areas in my life like family dinners and time with the kids. What I had to cut out was those downtime moments like youtube or Netflix. I did not spend as much time on social media or surfing the web. My life did not suffer because I cut those things out. I did not feel like I missed out on anything. Instead, I felt like my time had more purpose and value. I cherished my time with the kids and family even more.
Gain a stronger mindset
Your mind is a powerful tool. Researchers say that we have between 12,000 to 50,000 thoughts a day, and studies show that 80 percent of those thoughts are negative. When you do a challenge, you’ll confront a lot of your negative thoughts. I did when I started training. Running is hard on the body but also on the mind. There were hard days and moments when I wanted to quit, and I wondered why I was doing this, especially on a two-hour run. There were moments that I thought I could not do it, and I felt my body was not made to run that long.
I had to confront a lot of my insecurities, fears, and negative beliefs. I had to remind myself that I could do it. I had to choose to listen to those lies and fears or to persevere and stay focused. Every run was an opportunity to have more mental fortitude. It was practice for me to step into positive thinking about myself. I was able to build a better outlook of myself and life.
Builds community and support group
Challenges will humble you. You think you can do it yourself, but if you want to do it well, then you need help. Someone told me that if you can accomplish your vision by yourself, your vision isn’t big enough. If you think you can do something challenging by yourself, then it is not that challenging enough. You need help to accomplish those challenges.
My wife helped me on the journey of marathon training. She helped me find a running plan and understanding the need to eat during the runs. She sent me so many different videos on how to prepare and train well. She also encouraged and supported me while we trained and prepared together.
I got help from others along the way too. People from church and friends gave me great tips, advice, and support. Also, getting lots of support and prayers from people has been an enormous source of encouragement, especially those days that I don’t want to run or days that I want to quit. Running for more than three hours can make you question life and why you are running around for no apparent reason.
When you do something challenging and bring people into the journey, you create community. You feel a sense of support and know that you are not alone, and it helps you accomplish those moments and build support.
You will have more confidence and believe in yourselfÂ
When I crossed that finish line, I was so happy and relieved. It was the moment of triumph to know that four months of training was not wasted. It also helped me to realize and believe in myself more. There is this sense that I was on top of the world. I could do anything. I believed in myself more after finishing the marathon. Even though I was hurting and hobbling, I felt more confident and proud of myself as a leader. When you accomplish something, you start to believe two words more, “I can.” I have evidence to back up this claim. I can look back in this moment and remember what I could do as a leader and person. It gives me confidence and comfort to know that I can handle the next challenge. I don’t have to live in fear and anxiety.
Others be will be inspired, encouraged, and challenged to be better
Our girls (6 and 9 years old) have watched us both train for the past few months. They also got to witness us cross the finish line. My two daughters ran with me the last .2 miles of the race, and we crossed the finish line together. It was the highlight of the marathon for me.
After our marathon, we overheard their conversation with each other. This was their conversation.
Nine-year-old: “I can’t believe mom and dad ran 26 miles.”
Six-year-old: “Do you think we could do 3 miles?”
Nine-year-old: “Yeah maybe if we train and work hard.”
Six-year-old: “But do you think we could do 2?”
Nine-year-old: “Yeah, cuz it’s in November, so we have one month to train.”
Six-year-old: “But do you think we could do TWO?”
Our girls had only run one mile at this point if even that. Now they are starting to dream and wonder if they could run 3 miles. They began to believe in themselves and know that they could because they saw us train and prepare. They started to believe in themselves more.
When you take up a challenge and accomplish it, it encourages and inspires others around you. It makes them want to be better and do better. It makes them think about their lives differently and wants something more for themselves. Whether they do it or not is another thing, but if they do, it may change them as a leader and person. When you challenge yourself, it also helps others grow and develop.
What challenges will you do?
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