I run the Lewa Marathon last weekend. I completed the half marathon (21 kilometers) and I think it was one of the hardest things I have done this year. I did a mixture or running and walking but I finished. Six months ago I could not even contemplate being able to do this. As always I try to see how different experiences relate to my all time favourite topic of wealth creation. So what did I learn? This may sound cliché but it really doesn’t matter how many times you fall it’s how many times you get up. My training for this was rather erratic. I would have a good week then go for two weeks without doing anything. Have another good week than allow the lethargy to creep in. This really was my cycle for the last six months. I really wish I could say I trained consistently for three days a week for six months but I didn’t. I hope to do better in the next one but that was not my process this time. But as I finished I really felt that the many times I got back up despite the lethargy helped. It got me to the finish line. Look and concentrate on what you have done as opposed to what you haven’t. It will take you further than you think and will motivate your next step. You saved for three months, dropped off, then saved again, then dropped off. Of course it would have been better to be consistent but it still counts. You can still do something with it. You can still invest, pay of debt, pay school fees etc. Try to do better next time but appreciate where what you have done has gotten you.
Just start. When we were told to GO the words from a song by Lauryn Hill echoed in my head. “Ready or not, here I come………..” I felt I was on the not so ready side but I started the race. When I was training, the farthest distance I covered was 13 kilometers. Here I was running a race of 21 kilometers. If had bought into the idea that I have to be one hundred percent ready I would not have gotten up that morning. Life doesn’t need you to be ready it just needs you to start. You don’t need to be ready to start a business, you just need to start. You don’t need to be ready to invest; you just start investing with what you have and in what you know. You don’t need to be ready with the money today, start doing the research. What is it that you are not starting, because you feel you are not ready? Just do the one action that proves you have started. At some point you will want to give up. After about 11 kilometers my feet were burning and ankles aching. I had all the reasons in the world to stop. In fact I wanted to cut the race short, jump into an ambulance and be driven off. I kept wondering whether it was really worth it. I had so far to go and I kept thinking about the distance that was still ahead of me. I then realised it was not going to help me i.e. focusing on how far I had to go. I turned my attention to the present. I focused on my current motion, my breathing, my pace and my current step. I even kept my head down so that I don’t see how long the road ahead is. I forced my mind to focus on the now and the finish line. By doing that somehow the pain was suddenly not too much. This is the point I enlisted the help of my music and focused on the beats and words of songs and time just seemed to move a lot faster. Don’t focus on how much debt you have to pay, just focus on what you can do now. Not how much it will take you to retire but the step that is in front of you. Not how much more money you need but what you can do with what you have now. Even all these future plans we have will only take place in a moment called “now”. You may be planning to go on holiday in December. However when that day comes you will be experiencing that holiday in the present. If need be and like I did with my music, put your self in the right environment to be able to focus. Maybe you need a quieter place, to be with different people, to read something different, a day off or just listen to music. Whatever works for you and shifts your mind to the right place.
Age is clearly nothing but a number. I was overtaken, overlapped and out run by people who were double my age. “I am too old” is clearly a myth. If you were too old for life, you would already be dead so because you are still here and reading this it means there are still things you are meant to do. It may be to run a marathon or something else. Last but not least, surround yourself with people who will cheer you on, even if you are the slow one. The last 500 meters was the longest 500 meters I have ever seen but just seeing friends and family at the end cheering me on and affirming my effort really gave me the burst of energy I needed. Have those people who will cheer you on and encourage you on even when you fall or even when you are slow. Become a cheerleader for yourself as well. So do I want to go back next year? Absolutely! I want run a bit faster and walk less. I want to train a bit more. There will always be something better we can always do, after all that’s what keeps our blood boiling. But in the words of the good book, let us strive to fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith.