Beginner's Mind

In 2019, I ran my first marathon. Here are three lessons I learned.

1. Life is not only about the things you like. 

I hate long-distance running. Any run above ten kilometres is not enjoyable for me at all. However, there is a broader picture of it. 

Life is for a lot of people in this world too easy these days. The modern life has taken away many struggles humans were facing for centuries. But struggle builds confidence. So does overcoming your fears. Every action is a vote for your confidence. And confidence is what equips you for the challenges of life, the good and the bad. 

It’s not about running, but about training your mind and body to push yourself. The sense of accomplishment after taking on that challenge will likely be a moment you’ll never forget. Maybe this quote helps to change your perspective: 

2. Overriding your self-image

Once you are over 25, it’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks. But if you are above 25 like me, don’t start crying. There is one thing that can help you overriding your self-image: experiences. Personality gets shaped through experiences, especially the challenges we take on voluntarily.

I frequently wonder when we made up our mind about what we can and cannot do. I’m sure there are things we are still carrying around with us from something that happened in primary school. So if you don’t like anything about you, attack it by facing it. 

If you are afraid of heights of my, go skydiving. 

If you are afraid of public speaking, do a standup comedy course.

If you are afraid...[fill in the blank]...

Start small. Go for a 15-minute run, then 30 minutes, then 45, sign up for a 10k run, half-marathon and so on. By exposing yourself to your fears or shortcomings, you are slowly but surely overwriting your self-image. You push your limits which makes you braver in every aspect of your life. 

Now to the non-obvious lesson:

3. Finishing a marathon wasn’t that rewarding 

I expected to finish the race with this song in mind, feeling incredibly proud of myself.  

My finish time wasn’t great (4:55) as I should have trained more and slowed down quite a bit in the second half of the race. I should have run faster as the pain would have been there regardless.

And then there was the finish line. But that Superman feeling didn’t kick in. At least not to that degree. It was more a feeling that I can finally tick it off the ToDo list. My mind already somehow knew that I am capable of finishing after my 32km prep run. This was a shocking realisation for me as I have never felt like this before. It was great, just not as I expected.

Running a marathon was a great experience I wouldn’t want to miss. And I think that almost anybody can do it. It’s more a mind game which makes the lesson even more valuable.

So what is something you will do this year that challenges you?