Walk, Don't Run

I’m sure many of you clicked on this blog to see why a coach and trainer would be telling people to walk, don’t run.  Seems slightly opposite what most in my position would be saying, but this isn’t about hustling on and off the field, or sprint intervals in the gym.  Instead I’m referring to the journey of life that we’re all on.  I had a short conversation today with a friend who is on a weight-loss journey.  It’s a conversation I often have with people in my gym.  Most commonly I get asked, what’s the best diet?  What’s the best workout routine?  How often should I do this or that?   The usual I want to lose x pounds by this date.  All of this got me thinking about how our society rushes to everything.  How we’re so consumed by instant gratification and immediate results that we forget that everything we want out of life is a journey.  It all takes time if we wish to do it right.  It’s not just weight-loss I’m talking about either, although that’s what spurred the start of this particular post.

Take a minute and think about how often we look for the fastest or easiest way to something.  How many times have you been driving and that guy speeds by you, weaving in and out of traffic?  Or maybe you’ve been this person who floors it around a car, only to get stopped at the next light and you’re a whole 1 car ahead of where you were.  Was that move necessary or useful?  How about in school instead of reading the assigned reading you grabbed the cliff notes?  What about a crash diet to lose a few extra pounds?  Or maybe you’ve skipped a step building something cause you already knew what to do with that step, only to find when you’re finished you have pieces left over?  There are many times and many opportunities to take the easy way or skip a step, but being first or getting there fastest doesn’t ensure you’ll stay there or understand how you got there.

When we rush to get somewhere or do something we miss so many things we could be learning or growing from along the way.  Our final destination is as much a product of the things we learn or see on the journey as any perceived belief that the destination is who we’re meant to be.  For example, when I got to college I thought I was going to be an engineer.   I loved building and designing things, and I was pretty good with using CAD.  As I continued through the program though I found that I wasn’t as good at math as I thought (or I didn’t feel like getting that good, you decide).  At this point I made a shift in my career path.  I entered into the education program thinking I could teach and become a coach.  A few years later I graduated with just a history degree.  

Now, today here I am a strength and conditioning specialist and a coach.  I still managed to find my way into a life of coaching (because that really was my true calling), but had I rushed down the education path I started on maybe I wouldn’t love coaching as much.  Instead of loving what I do, maybe I’d be stuck and wishing for a way out.  There are many paths that can lead us to where we need to go, but when we rush blindly forward because that’s what we’re supposed to do, or told to be, we miss turnoffs on the highway of our life that could become incredible adventures.  Don’t speed through life so fast that you miss exits that may shape your future destination, we will all get where we’re supposed to be eventually.

Here’s another fun thought, imagine you were invited to a race.  At the starting line the host stands up in front of the group and says there’s a million dollars waiting for the first person to finish this course.  At hearing this half the group takes off sprinting toward the finish line.  The host continues to talk as half the invitees disappear out of site, “for a short cut feel free to run through this hallway.”  At this news the rest of the group takes off running down the short cut.  The host then looks down and sees you patiently standing there, still listening intently.  The host steps down puts his arm around your shoulder and says, “come with me, I’ve got a journey to take you on that’s more valuable than a million dollars.”

While everyone else has taken off sprinting toward a finish line that they know nothing about, you and the host walk the course.  Every so often the host points and says, “look over there.”  As you look you see there’s a book on investing your money wisely, then there’s another book on how to budget for a fruitful future.  Then you see a suitcase filled with money and you meet an accountant, a banker, a financial advisor.  You watch stories of people making mistakes with their money and losing everything they ever had.  So, by the time you reach the finish line, you’re armed with the tools necessary to turn the suitcase of money into a lifetime of riches and the person who won the race has already spent their million dollars and are broke again.

How many times have you heard stories of people who win the lottery only to be bankrupt a few years later.  Or the athlete that makes it to the highest level only to find themselves broke and living on the street.  Why do you think this happens?  Getting things quickly without knowing their true value leads to spending it away without thinking about what you’re doing.  Imagine achieving your ultimate success on your first try.  Sure it feels good and you’d be excited about the achievement, but would you truly appreciate how great it was?  What if that same accomplishment took years of work and dedication to achieve.  Would you hold onto that success harder, longer?  Would it mean more to you?  I believe it would.

We’re always rushing from one thing to another in this life.  We lose site of where we’re actually going or what we want to do when we get there.  We’ve lost focus.  We should be spending time on the journey, in the moment, but instead we’ve got our eyes fixed on a destination with no clue on how to get there or what we’ll do if and when we actually make it.  The most successful people don’t become overnight successes.  It’s years of work and effort that culminate with eventual success.  We only think they’re overnight successes because we see the end result, not the hours upon hours of work leading up to that moment.  

We’re only given one life.  There’s only one journey.  When we get there doesn’t matter, how we get there does.  Don’t alienate your friends and family, don’t skip opportunities with friends and loved ones, stop trying to get there first.  It does you no good to reach your destination if you haven’t learned how to stay there once you arrive.  Enjoy the journey, stop and smell the roses once in a while, take a detour through a path less traveled.  Get lost and find your way back out.  The longer it takes for you to finally reach your ultimate destination the more you’ll appreciate it once you get there.  It does you know good to get to your destination if you can’t tell others how to join you there.  No matter how successful you are, life is about the connections you make to others along the way, and the only way to do that is to stop once in a while and hold open a door.  

I hope your path to greatness leads you on many adventures.  I hope it has ups and downs and you get lost and have to ask for directions.  I hope you find others similar to yourself that join you, and maybe for a while share the load with you.  I hope you have the patience to see the beauty in the difficult moments.  That when scaling the mountains that block your path, you stop every now and then to turn around and look out over the world beneath you.  See how far you’ve come.  Look at where you started and appreciate what you’ve accomplished to this point.  I hope everyone gets where they’re going quickly, but at the pace that allows them to stay there.  Most importantly I hope you walk, don’t run!