Running the New York marathon – personal and business lessons from a New Year’s resolution!

It’s 2am on Jan 1st 2013 and we’re sitting outside with a table full of empty wine bottles! My brother turns to me and says “I’m running the New York marathon (NYM) this year, wanna run it with me”? “Sure” I reply, “why not”. It seemed like such a great idea at the time!

Waking up 6 hours later worse for wear, I turned to my wife and asked her if we had been talking about running a marathon last night? She replied “you’re not just running a marathon, you’re running THE NYM”! My mind went numb and exploded with a million excuses on how to get out of this crazy New Year’s resolution: I’ve never run a marathon before; I can’t afford it; I’ll die.

And so began the journey to achieving one of the greatest things that I’ve ever done in my life. A bucket list item that currently sits at No.1 with a massive tick beside it.

To be honest; even after the first couple of runs (3-5kms) which almost killed me in the summer heat of January 2013, I wasn’t that committed to seeing it through. But one training run lead to another and the distances grew: 3km, 5km, 7km then 10km.

February passed, then March. April arrived and along with it my first leg injuries. The curse any runner will know; the dreaded calf muscle tear. This was the excuse I’d been looking for as a way out.

Talk about commitment levels. We’d told everyone that we were doing it = 50% commitment. We booked the flights and entry = 75% commitment. The day we went online I became 100% committed. The reason – I discovered my ‘cause’. We dedicated the run to my mother who had passed away from Motor Neurone Disease (www.mnda.org.nz) in February 2011. We created a donation page to support MNDNZ. We’d run the NYM and they’d get the donations. Once the first dollar was donated, I was 100% committed.

Looking back on the whole journey of training 5 days a week, getting injuries, recovering and doing it all again week after week for 10 months, I learnt quite a few things along the way which relate to both my personal and business life:

1. Don’t just run a marathon, run THE marathon. In other words, don’t set your sights on achieving something you’ve never done before, set them on something that most people have never done before.

2. Get a great physio (www.ibod.co.nz), trainer (www.fightingfit.co.nz) etc. In other words, surround yourself with great people who have specialist skills and who are there to help you achieve your end goals because you won’t get there without them.

3. Do it for a ‘cause’ (in our case, our mother) then tell everyone what you are up to. That way you’ll be 100% committed because the ‘cause’ is so powerful, it will drive you through the tough times and onto the finish line.

4. Don’t go it alone. My brother and I crossed the finish line together. We also had amazing family, friends and business acquaintance support. This made the training and achievement even more special. I don’t think I would have achieved it without their support; nor would it have meant as much if I had done it alone.

5. Don’t daydream about crossing the finish line. In other words, don’t sit around dreaming of a big payday, do the action everyday and the end result will take care of itself.

I was fortunate enough to read ‘The One Thing’* by Gary Keller’ (www.the1thing.com) after we had achieved the NYM. I then related Gary’s experience in business and life to my own marathon experience. Guess what - the same principles applied. Focus, application, stepping way outside of your comfort zone, the one thing and achievement.

Who would have thought that a reckless New Year’s resolution would lead to learning so much about myself, those around me and business. Two years on and inspired by ‘The One Thing’, I’ve started another business (my third). This time I haven’t just started a business, I’ve started THE business (www.comeniusonline.com).

I thoroughly recommend that you read ‘The One Thing’ then apply that knowledge to your personal and business lives. You won’t be disappointed!

FYI, 4hrs 11min 57sec and over $10,000 to MNDNZ (just in case you were wondering).

* "From the book The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, Bard Press 2013 www.the1thing.com