PODCAST EPISODE 142: It's Time for Your Comeback in Running, Your Passions, and Life

If I came up to you and said that at midnight tonight, it would be time to run into your dream life and get back to doing the things you love, would you be ready? What would it take to be ready? If it's running or triathlon, you're going to need to start running and cycling and maybe swimming again, if you aren't already doing those things.

Or maybe you've been running, but now it's time to start gradually bumping up the mileage. Or maybe, you know exactly what you need to do--but you need the accountability of a coach. If you're an actor, what's your stamina like right now? If you had the opportunity to start rehearsals for a show tomorrow, would you have the energy and the focus to memorize lines or to sing and dance without feeling like you're going to collapse? Can you sing without feeling breathless?

Whatever your thing is that you want to get back to, let's start by making a list of the things that you know that you need to be able to do successfully so you can show up knowing that you've prepared. 

For most of us, that list starts with getting quality sleep. Eating nutritious foods moving a little every day, including some strength training. Adding in some sort of mind/ body work like meditation or yoga... and maybe journaling or a gratitude practice to help you stay focused.

If life has been a little slower for you since the pandemic started, you don't want to rush right into these things and doing everything right away. I recommend easing into things-- and using a journal to set some goals and to do a little bit of planning.

Thinking about that famous Stephen Covey book, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, begin with the end in mind. Pick a specific date or have a month in mind when you hope to be prepared to make your comeback. Let's say you want to be able to run a half marathon in September. Think backwards, and plan out the steps. If you know you'll be running a half marathon in September, how many miles does that mean that you need to be able to run each week to bump your mileage up slowly... so that you're only gaining a half a mile or a mile new every week, if you're starting from scratch? Start backwards. Start with the end in mind and work backwards to come up with a plan. Write that on the first page of your journal.

Next, let's look at why this goal is important to you.

If you're going to stay focused, you're going to want that reminder on days when you wake up just not feeling it. And sometimes having a journal isn't powerful enough, so you might need more reminders like sticky notes by your computer or changing the label on your alarm clock and using it as a reminder, or notes on the bathroom mirror, or by the coffee pot--whatever it takes to remind yourself that you've set this goal and this is why it's important to you to show up for yourself.

Life has been disrupted.

We have had a full year now where our lives have been disrupted, and the flow of your life has probably changed multiple times in this last year. As kids move in and out of the various learning models... one day, your kids going part-time, next they are full-time, now they are strictly online... it has been crazy. And every time those things change, it changes the flow of your day. 

Catch the full episode and all the tips in the player above, or search for Power Up Your Performance anywhere you listen to podcasts and audio.