Tom Cottrell
Do the training as we give it to you and run the race as we tell you to and you will succeed. But, sign this first, it’s the commitment card.
Many runners want to succeed; many wish they could run better than they are at the moment. Many are interested in improving; few it seems are committed to improvement.
Serious stuff indeed, but we know that a committed runner is a successful runner.
This commitment can only be in place when there is a very clear picture of what it is you want. This has to be well defined and even written down in a diary. While a goal like "I want to get fit and lose some weight" is good, I'd rather suggest a goal with more definition is the essence of success. "I wish to finish (for instance) the Old Mutual Wally Hayward half-marathon in under two hours this year" is a worthy, well defined and one goal a runner can commit to.
Now comes the interesting part, I write down that I am 100% committed to finishing this race in the stated time and I sign it. This is a contract between me and myself. I am shameless about my goal, about what I want to achieve and I tell the world. I tell my friends, my family and all at work. Now there is no turning back.
Take this a step further, make out a copy of the commitment card and stick it on your mirror as a daily reminder. Carry it around with you, and pull it out whenever the going gets tough. Whenever you are tempted to stay in bed for that extra half hour in the morning, pull out your commitment card, show it to your partner and leap out of bed, for you have business to attend to, running business.
As in running, so too in the hurly-burly of life, commitment is the key that unlocks the door to many of our desires. If we want to succeed in anything, it is commitment that will give us the success.
It was Henry David Thoreau who said, “In the long run you hit only what you aim at. Therefore, though you should fail immediately, you had better aim at something high”.
Go for it.
(source Old Mutual)
Do the training as we give it to you and run the race as we tell you to and you will succeed. But, sign this first, it’s the commitment card.
Many runners want to succeed; many wish they could run better than they are at the moment. Many are interested in improving; few it seems are committed to improvement.
Serious stuff indeed, but we know that a committed runner is a successful runner.
This commitment can only be in place when there is a very clear picture of what it is you want. This has to be well defined and even written down in a diary. While a goal like "I want to get fit and lose some weight" is good, I'd rather suggest a goal with more definition is the essence of success. "I wish to finish (for instance) the Old Mutual Wally Hayward half-marathon in under two hours this year" is a worthy, well defined and one goal a runner can commit to.
Now comes the interesting part, I write down that I am 100% committed to finishing this race in the stated time and I sign it. This is a contract between me and myself. I am shameless about my goal, about what I want to achieve and I tell the world. I tell my friends, my family and all at work. Now there is no turning back.
Take this a step further, make out a copy of the commitment card and stick it on your mirror as a daily reminder. Carry it around with you, and pull it out whenever the going gets tough. Whenever you are tempted to stay in bed for that extra half hour in the morning, pull out your commitment card, show it to your partner and leap out of bed, for you have business to attend to, running business.
As in running, so too in the hurly-burly of life, commitment is the key that unlocks the door to many of our desires. If we want to succeed in anything, it is commitment that will give us the success.
It was Henry David Thoreau who said, “In the long run you hit only what you aim at. Therefore, though you should fail immediately, you had better aim at something high”.
Go for it.
(source Old Mutual)