Sweet Victory!
That was my motto for running 40k on my 40th birthday. It got me through the most difficult of times. As hard as it was to get myself out the door some days, the possibility of failing at my goal was worse.
When it was cold, raining and dark outside and I was sick, tired and depressed I repeated that motto to myself. No excuse could stand up to it.
“It’s cold and I don’t feel very good.”
“You won’t care about that when you are running 40k in 3 months. You’ll really be glad you ran today. NO OPTION TO FAIL.”
“I really have to get this work done before the end of the day or I’m going to be so far behind. I can’t afford to use that time up jogging”
“Stay up late tonight or wake up early tomorrow. You can’t afford not to jog. It’s one day. NO OPTION TO FAIL.”
“My back aches, my shoulder burns, my knee aches, my foot is sore…I can’t continue on.”
“NO OPTION TO FAIL. NO OPTION TO FAIL. NO OPTION TO FAIL. NO OPTION TO FAIL”
Subsequently my aches and pains would go away or switch sides and it was in my mind, not my body. You have to differentiate between the two. NO OPTION TO FAIL, cut through the bullsh**.
NO OPTION TO FAIL meant that if I had to walk 40k I would. If something happened and I couldn’t walk then I would hobble. It could rain, snow or hail and I was going to be out there. There just wasn’t an option of not doing it.
As a result, it got me through my training when almost always I was on my own, willing myself out the door. No one was there to tell me to do it. Each morning I had to do it on my own.
When you give yourself a motto like NO OPTION TO FAIL, no excuse will work. Trust me, for a year I tried every excuse in the book, but nothing was as strong of an argument as that. It means you will do whatever you have to do in order to accomplish your goal. It forces you to be organized and prioritize. It helps you sort through what’s truly important and what’s not. For me, it was running 40k, but more than that, it was about honoring a promise I made to myself. Now how many times do we break those promises but keep all the ones to other people?
NO OPTION TO FAIL, meant that I wasn’t failing myself.
That’s BIG!!
NO OPTION TO FAIL got me off the couch and running 40k within a year. I truly felt empowered, joyful and fulfilled when I completed that goal. Now I know I will feel the same when I complete other goals, with the same motto.
NO OPTION TO FAIL, what can that do for YOUR life? Can it make POSITIVE CHANGE for you in your choices? It’s something worth thinking about….
With a smile
Tina
Tomorrow is my first day at Jogging after a gap of 2 yrs…….and ready to sweat it out tomorrow early morning……….