A pep talk for the hard times...

Everyone needs a pep talk sometimes. I was lucky enough to get one from a sweet friend of mine earlier this week. My goal for my upcoming marathon is big. I have worked really hard, but I’m not sure if it will be enough to achieve my goal. Thankfully, my friend reminded me of a few things. One is that big goals mean hard work. You don’t reach your race goals by doing all of your runs at an easy relaxed pace and stop whenever it feels slightly difficult. Sometimes it is HARD! So don’t run away from the hard runs…no pun intended. This is true for all sports and so many other things in life.

How many times have you watched someone else succeed and felt jealous or sad that you didn’t accomplish the same thing? The thing is, you can’t compare your journey to someone else’s. This is something I have to remind myself of often. You don’t know how hard they have worked, how many set backs they had, how much adversity they faced, how long they worked for it, and how many tears were shed to get there. Big goals require big work. If it is hard, you’re doing it right. If you have set backs, you’re trying enough new things. We all have set backs and failures. This is part of the journey.

So whether you’re training for a big goal or are facing a challenge in life, keep persevering. Keep working, trying, and pushing. Overcoming obstacles is what makes achieving a goal so super sweet.