We’re about nine weeks (!) into 2022. Studies show that 80% of people who make New Year’s resolutions will have given up on them by now. At first glance, it might look like I’m one of them. I made some ambitious goals, and I’m not on track to meet all of them. I don’t consider that failure. I used to, though. For most of my twenties, I gave up on my resolutions by Valentine’s Day💔. This was really discouraging. Every time I tried to improve myself, I ended up feeling like more of a failure. For a few years, I stopped trying altogether.
Then, when I was 25, I realized how unhappy I was. I didn’t feel professionally fulfilled or challenged, and it was affecting my confidence. I sat at a desk all day and needed something to get me out of the office and out of my head. So, I went for the classic office-worker physical challenge: the half marathon. I found a local trail race and signed up. I love hiking, so this seemed like a way to kill two birds with one stone: get back in shape and spend some time in nature. I figured once I had the date set—and the money down 💸—I would be motivated to train and stick with my goal.
Spoiler alert 🚨: That didn’t happen. I toed the starting line completely unprepared. Running 21 kilometers isn’t easy under any circumstances, but trail running requires even more strength, stability, and endurance to handle the terrain and altitude changes. I was in trouble and I knew it. I started the race with no expectations but simply with the goal to make it as far as I could. Throughout the race, everything that could go wrong did, and I finished as the organizers were loading up the vans. When I crossed the finish line, there technically wasn’t a line there anymore.
But, I did finish! Maybe it was grit. Maybe it was perseverance. Maybe I was just too stubborn to give up. Regardless, I felt amazing. I immediately signed up for another race—that’s how they get you! This time, it was a 70k race six months out.
“Okay,” I thought to myself. “I will definitely train for this one.”
Continue reading “Why I overcommit to resolutions”