I used to run in the rain.
It was after my divorce - I was depressed. A friend challenged me to run a tough mudder. After realizing that if I were to run a tough mudder when they asked, I would probably die, (because I was so out of shape). I decided to train for it anyway.
I began running every morning. Shine… or rain.
It’s raining today, as I write, and I’m not out running - I’m writing… It’s the current method I am using to improve my thinking and my life. I tell this story - because I am human - and I stopped doing something that worked. Daily running got me in great shape and feeling good, and finding a way to sustain the effort - even on hard days like when it rained - made me a little tougher, stronger, and felt like an investment in my resilience.
Let’s invite a little reflection - is there something that worked in your past - that you still want and let slide - or you stopped because of a rainy day or a challenging week? Could you start something like that again? Or is there something that worked in the past that you are still doing - but it doesn’t line up with your top values anymore - that you could start training with a new strategy to improve your life?
The big insight for me - and I will generalize this to make this more applicable to you…. It’s important to invest in a daily challenge - or life enhancing activity. Something that when you begin doing it - your day includes a success.
Example, I often have draft days - where I write but don’t publish. However - the moment I start writing - it feels like I am telling a truth to myself. My starting line - is the finish line I run for most…
Caution
It’s easy to get attracted to the bright and shiny new solution to make life better - this can be an effective method your brain uses to get you to procrastinate doing the difficult current investment that you chose on New Year’s Eve or at your last Doctors visit.
Your One Thing
If you had to choose one activity that filled you with the most energy, or you believe to be most in line with who you want to become - what is that thing?
Now - imagine a rainy day, on a difficult week, where you got some bad news, and missed your target yesterday - how can you find the energy to do that thing? Do you have a version of your “training” you can do in the rain? Can you work your arms or invest in recovery after an intense leg day? Can you do a little research to get your brain thinking about writing - so you actually write?
In the book Stranger In a Strange land - the author talks about the importance of water - how it is life. A mentor of mind told me a story about an old hand crank pump and how to use it to get the water from deep in the ground so we can drink and use it at the surface - where the sun shines.
The first thing about these old pumps is that they might not have the best seal to create the vacuum that will pull up the water. So the first step - is called priming the pump. You pour a little water around the top of the mechanism to create a vacuum seal.
My mentor would stress - the importance of this extra energy to activate and initiate activity. It may feel ironic - like you are depleting your water - to get… water. Or investing energy to get out of bed and work out - to feel more rested & awake in life. How can you keep enough energy in your reserves - so you can do the thing that will most improve your life.
The second interesting thing about these old pumps - is that you could’t tell just by looking how deep the well is. It may take 3 pumps or 300 to get the water flowing. So he recommended pumping like mad to get the water flowing. The rewards may take some time to show up in your life - can you keep using the lever to improve your life - over and over to get the results you want?
The third really cool thing - when you do your one thing all the time - is that it gets easier when the results start pouring in, but you still need the consistency of effort or you may have to start over from what feels like the beginning.
Whatever your thing is, I hope you crossed - or will cross the finish line - of getting started and keep starting - even when it’s raining.
If you’re having challenges sustaining the training that is most important to improving your life - let’s connect. Maybe we can uncover a strategy that works for your brain and place in life.