I was in West Kirby on the Wirral today and after my meetings had finished I went for a run along the beach. This was really all about effective use of time, as after I had driven home it would have been too dark to go running.
I ran for about 15 minutes, into the wind, reaching Hoylake, at which point I turned around to run back. It seemed so far back that I didn't really believe that I could possibly have run that far in only 15 minutes (and I don't even run very fast). It really depressed me as I felt that it would take much longer to run back, it seemed just too far, somehow physics seemed to have stretched the distance. Anyway I had no option, my car was back there and hence my transport home.
So I focused on just running to the next area of puddles, the next bit where there were grassy tussocks, the next bit where I could see horse hoof prints, then the next bit where the path ran next to the sand. Suddenly I looked into the distance and saw that the steps back up from the beach were only a couple of hundred yards away. Then I felt great and sprinted to reach them.
By focusing on just the bits that were immediately in front of me I was easily able to complete my run back and it didn't even feel like it was a great deal of effort. Many of us have goals that seem far too big to reach, like running back to where I started from today. However if instead of focusing on that big scary goal you focus on just that first small step you need to take, then the one after that, then the one after that. Suddenly you'll find that you are making real progress towards achieving your end goal.
What's the first step that you need to take today? And then what is the next step you'll take tomorrow?
I was in West Kirby on the Wirral today and after my meetings had finished I went for a run along the beach. This was really all about effective use of time, as after I had driven home it would have been too dark to go running.
I ran for about 15 minutes, into the wind, reaching Hoylake, at which point I turned around to run back. It seemed so far back that I didn't really believe that I could possibly have run that far in only 15 minutes (and I don't even run very fast). It really depressed me as I felt that it would take much longer to run back, it seemed just too far, somehow physics seemed to have stretched the distance. Anyway I had no option, my car was back there and hence my transport home.
So I focused on just running to the next area of puddles, the next bit where there were grassy tussocks, the next bit where I could see horse hoof prints, then the next bit where the path ran next to the sand. Suddenly I looked into the distance and saw that the steps back up from the beach were only a couple of hundred yards away. Then I felt great and sprinted to reach them.
By focusing on just the bits that were immediately in front of me I was easily able to complete my run back and it didn't even feel like it was a great deal of effort. Many of us have goals that seem far too big to reach, like running back to where I started from today. However if instead of focusing on that big scary goal you focus on just that first small step you need to take, then the one after that, then the one after that. Suddenly you'll find that you are making real progress towards achieving your end goal.
What's the first step that you need to take today? And then what is the next step you'll take tomorrow?