Erik set a goal during the holidays of 2017 to run 1,000 miles. At the time he was running a little bit, about 3 miles a day 4 days in a row. It sounded like a great idea and like it would be a piece of cake but frankly, it ended up being very painful.
For the first 6 months of running, his calves constantly ached and were always tight to the point where most days he could barely walk normally. He would roll out his calves, wear a compression sock under his pants, stretch constantly but nothing helped.
Finally, on July 1st, his calves stopped hurting! Six months into the cycle, he was able to run more than ever before, further than 3 miles which is basically the minimum number he needs to run daily to reach 1,000 miles by the end of the year.
Getting this break in his running made him think about it from a business perspective. When you start something new in a business, it’s not going to be easy. If you don’t already do it regularly, then it’s a habit that you don’t yet have and will have to develop. It’s also very easy to make up an excuse to stop doing something. It may take you 6 days, 6 weeks, 6 months, even 6 years if you’re starting a business from scratch. When you start something new, you have to commit to doing it for the long haul. Anything that you’re thinking about starting, it’s going to take much longer than you anticipate to actually get to where you want to go.