For the past two and a half months I was preparing for the NYC half marathon. After completing the run with great results, I want to share with you few things that I have learned, which I believe can also generate value in our daily work environment:
1. Live A Life You Will Remember- I was playing sports since I remember myself. As a child, I was part of the Israeli official soccer teams, but unfortunately, at eighteen I had to quit and join the Israeli Defense Forces. These days, I try to stay in shape as much as possible. I work out at the gym about 2-3 times a week, but do not focus on running. I describe my sport habits as average (although I’m not average at all ;) to a 30-years- old person who try to stay healthy. I have never imagined myself running a half or even quarter marathon. When my colleague raised the idea of participating in the NYC half marathon during our coffee break, I smiled to him and instantaneously replied “never.” However, after re-evaluating his offer, I decided to grab this opportunity and try something new. I saw it as a great example for my most popular # on Instagram Live a Life You Will Remember and decided to take this opportunity, to try something new, to leave the comfort zone.
2. Make Work Plans That Meet Your Expectations- After I decided to participate in the run, I asked for advice from a good friend of mine who already participated in 5 Marathons in the past. My first question was whether I can finish first. These are the values I grew up with, and I always thrive to be the first. After my friend laughed (he knew that the world record is an hour), he assisted me to set my target time. Together we built a complete plan for preparation to everyday until the run. My daily practice started at 5:45AM no matter what the temperature outside was. In some mornings, I remember it went down as low as minus 10 degrees (Celsius), but I had a plan which I was committed to. This is where it all gets to. Once you set your goal and have a clear plan on how to execute it, you should stick to it. With that being said, your plan must be a doable one and simple enough to implement. This is the only way to meet your expectations. In my example, I over achieved my goal as we set a time of 1 hour and 45 minutes, but eventually I managed to finished it in 1 hour and 41 minutes.
3. Believe in yourself – and it’s not a cliché! When things are going great, its east to believe in yourself. The founders of Mobileye, who's vision- based technology company was bought by Intel for 15 Billions USD are a good recent example. These guys have a lot to be proud of, they worked hard and dedicated themselves and now have results. (https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/13/reports-intel-buying-mobileye-for-up-to-16b-to-expand-in-self-driving-tech/). But when you are running the Half Marathon for the first time and you are on the 16th km, and suddenly you are struggling, self-belief doesn’t come easy. To believe in yourself is to always remember that success is the implementations of hard work, and great preparation over time. To believe in your self is to remind yourself that you can do it, it’s to speaks to your inner most self during challenging time and reinforce the belief that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. When facing any challenge, weather its finding a new job, or facing obstacle in a new startup, you must remember that moment on the 16th Km. Remember the journey you went through, recognize the great efforts you put into getting up to that specific moment, believe in yourself, and in your ability to keep moving forward.
These days I’m looking for my next career challenge and my experience in the United Airlines NYC Half 2017 thought me lot about looking forward to bringing these values to my next adventure.