Passions That Pay

Image via Wikipedia

I was talking with a friend of mine today about her business and she talked about feeling like she was hitting an imaginary wall. Now in the interests of full disclosure, I have never run a marathon in my life and I doubt that it is in my future but I have heard many runners being interviewed and the subject of the wall frequently comes up.

Runners experience the wall in different ways.

“It felt like an elephant had jumped out of a tree onto my shoulders and was making me carry it the rest of the way in.”—Dick Beardsley, speaking of hitting “The Wall” at the second marathon of his career, the 1977 City of Lakes Marathon.

“I wasn’t wanting to talk much. And when I’m not talking, you know I’m hurting.”—Don Frichtl, a runner who encountered “The Wall” somewhere after mile 21 of the 2002 Chicago Marathon.

“At around mile 23, I was beginning to feel like the anchor was out.”—George Ringler, speaking of his 1991 Lake County Marathon.

(quotes from Marathons and Beyond )

My Twitter friend Karen Swim describes it thus :

The wall is that point in a race where mind and body fight for dominance. The body screams “not another step” and the mind wills it do the impossible, to battle fatigue and pain and finish what has been started.

The sentiments were so similar to those expressed by clients of mine at various points in their business where they described it as “walking through mud”.

I am going to be careful not to make too many funky comparisons between long distance runners and small business owners but there are some obvious similarities. Good preparation is essential to both. This includes for the entrepreneur a business and marketing plan, a budget and the money to pay for it and a clear vision of what success looks like. Both runners and small business owners must be prepared for the long haul and be sure that although it might be painful at times, the end result is worth it all. During the race, make sure you have your own cheering crowd and a business coach will help keep you hydrated (ok , metaphors are getting a bit stretched now )

The major takeaway for me from this image of the wall is that it is a common occurrence, in both business and marathons alike . It won’t feel good and you will have to dig deep within yourself to get through it. Find as much support as possible, visualize crossing the finish line and realize that sometimes we just have to suck it up and push on out of our comfort zone. Setting up positive and negative consequences can also help us here. Don’t be too hard on yourself, just remember that as long as you do not let yourself come to a complete standstill, you will get through it.

Lastly if you think you are too old to run your own business or too old for anything else for that matter let the oldest marathon runner inspire you. Dimitrion Yordanidis completed the Athens marathon at the tender age of 98.