Hey Friend
Oh man, this has been one slow, long week. I didn’t have any traveling to do, but I did have a bunch of work to get done in the office. We have a new website coming online next month– shhhhhhh – I had a lot of writing and shooting videos to get done for it, which sounds like fun, and it is often, but it’s also very tedious. I’m pretty decent at knocking videos out, but every word mattered, so it took several tries to get it right.
Which kind of reminds me of my running. I’m running a half-marathon in two weeks. I’ve been on the most disciplined training regiment I’ve ever done. Most of it is SLOW RUNNING, which is harder than it sounds. It feels endless. Twice a week however, there are intense intervals that challenge every fiber of my being!
I’m subjecting myself to this training for one reason: I want to get UNDER 2 hours in the Half. It will be a new course because I’ve only ever run in the OKC Memorial Marathon (3 Full & 4 Half’s this past decade). I never broke four hours in the Full and never broke two hours in the Half.
My friend Jeremy and I are heading down to Ft. Worth for the #Cowtown Marathon. With it being a new course, that adds another layer of challenge, because everything will be new to me. Though I don’t understand how the training works exactly – a running coach put it together for me…
I have put my entire faith in the process.
“Process” is not a natural state for me. Stuff not being available because it’s in process grates my soul. The default in my personality is to skip the process and go right to the end result. I suspect that has sabotaged a few opportunities, a few relationships and resulted in some half-baked mediocre output.
Ugh!
You know how they say if you don’t learn a lesson from an experience, it will show up again in a different format or different scenario, but you’ll get to do it repeatedly, until you learn? That’s me and process in a nutshell.
Overtime I’ve gleaned some lessons:
Boundaries Create Freedom
Quality Over Speed
Let It Do What It Does
Time is a Required Ingredient
Depth & Strength Evolve
For it to Last
I’m tempted to unpack each of those for you. There’s a lot of meaning in that short list. But I kinda wanna leave space below to see what else appears. My weekly writing to you is a process. Starting with a blank Evernote screen, I reflect on the week, then start writing. I suspect I learn more from generating these, than you do by reading them. I’m glad it’s both. Or at least hope it is.
One of the writing processes I apply is “Less is More.” Believe it or not, I leave a lot of things UNSAID. I write with the optimism that you will unpack your own thoughts in conjunction with mine. I create a list of prompting questions for you to consider implementing that week, to jar your participation of thought, not necessarily of action, though both would be splendid.
Even from my natural state of rebellion against process the primary driver for adherence is PROGRESS. I have consistently run for the last eight years. When training for the full marathon my efforts were simply to be able to finish 26.2. My last full, I put some things in place to try to try to get under four hours and landed at 4:00:52. I didn’t do intervals. I didn’t put my body through the process of slow/fast/long/short consistently asserting. I just ran a lot. That’s not process.
Repetition Does Not Equal Process!
If you’ll look at that picture montage up above, this week Runkeeper tracked my 1400th run!! That’s shocking to me. What’s more startling is that I haven’t gotten that much better or faster or longer. I just keep doing the same thing, which doesn’t enhance or improve me much in any way. I literally will make more progress in my ability from this 10 week training program, then years of simply running. Dang.
What if this week you…
1. Listed the processes you are submitted to?
2. Explored what’s repetitive versus progressive in your life?
3. Went for a run?
4. Identified end results you hope to achieve?
5. Wrote out lessons learned?
If I don’t bust through the two hour barrier, I’ll be disappointed. I may have to recant this entire position. Fortunately, my mind still benefits from every run, even if my body doesn’t.
Are you good with process? Have you ever run in a marathon? What do you do to break up a tedious week? What causes you to make progress? What does your personality naturally repel? Don’t resist saying Hello.
HEADS UP
With the new website upcoming, Random Inspiration will be making some changes too. I’m strategically hopeful the launch will compel many people to visit. I’d also like to expand the reach of these weekly correspondence. I will be asking you to invite a friend or colleague to examine its value. Just FYI for the moment. Thanks