I enjoy running. I like to do it over lunch because it gives me a nice mental break. I’ve solved quite a few problems I was wrestling with in the morning while I was on the trail because I was able to clear my mind.
But I’ve taken the winters off. Why? Well, I live in Michigan and like my bones intact. And I hate treadmills. I can do six miles outside, but after a mile or two on a treadmill, I feel like I’m going to die. But last week, with snow falling and ice building on the roads, I tried the treadmill again. Turns out, I was, in fact, not going to die.
This week, with the weather a bit nicer (40 degrees is perfect running weather), I hit the pavement again. And I may have figured out my treadmill issue. It’s not that I actually feel any different. It’s that I have the choice to quit. I can easily stop when it gets hard. If I do that while I’m outside, well, I’m a few miles away from home. I don’t have a choice but to persevere.
And that’s when I realized it’s all mental. If I’m faced with a difficult battle, it’s easy to retreat if I have the option. Julius Caesar knew this and famously made that statement above to his men when invading England.
While we probably shouldn’t literally “burn the boats”, there’s immense value in limiting our escape routes and fully committing to the journey. When forced to persevere, we often find we’re capable of feats we never thought possible. The challenges become opportunities. So, whether on the treadmill or making business decisions, I want to choose not to quit in the face of difficulty, limit my escape routes, and see what I’m capable of.
Let’s face every challenge head-on and conquer our own islands.