Today I have a little micro-pod for you, if you will. A short podcast where I’m going to share with you something that’s been on my mind as an entrepreneur. In part, today’s podcast is short because I’m exhausted – but not in the way you problely think.

TRANSCRIPT:

This past Saturday I ran my very first ultra trail marathon. It was a 50K which, to those of us in the US, equates to about 31 miles and it had approximately 5000 feet of elevation gain throughout the course – there was a lot of hills! It was a long, hot, dry day and my body is utterly worn out right now.

While my body is tired – and very sore – my mind has never felt better though.   In doing the race I gave myself permission to not focus on work for an entire weekend. Study after study shows that taking time away from work can be one of the best things for entrepreneurs yet it’s so very hard to do.   This isn’t to say that I didn’t think about work while running – when you have multiple hours with not much to keep you company but your own thoughts it’s natural that some of the things you’re working through at work will come up. But I just let them come up and let my brain mull over them as I worked on putting one foot in front of the other. For some things I came up with some potential new creative solutions and there were other issues where nothing seemed to simmer to the surface so I filed it away as something to focus on for another day.

In addition to not focusing on work, this race also gave me time away from being a mother. That may sound incredibly harsh and it’s not meant to – I adore with every fiber of my being my daughter and the time I spend with her. But if you are a parent you know how easy it is to want to spend every moment of your nonworking time with your child. As good as that is for your bond, it doesn’t always leave a lot of time for you to focus on who you are outside of being an entrepreneur and a parent. This race was a chance for me to be incredibly selfish with my time and just focus on me. In doing the race it reclaimed for me a little bit of who I am at my core when you strip away the titles of parent and business owner. It felt good to get back to that core for a little bit and made the joy of running down the finishing chute with my daughter even sweeter.

One thing I thought about a lot while running and that’s the fact that being a business owner is a lot like running an ultramarathon. The reality is that it’s a long slog. We’re not in this as a sprint – there’s little in terms of easy cash when it comes to the food industry. You have to be willing to be in this business day in and day out – albeit with taking some time now and again to get your brain out of the business – just putting one foot in front of the other thousands of times over.   There are moments of euphoria along your journey and moments of utter despair where you’re sure you’ll never finish. You will undoubtably stumble along the way – we all do – but you’ve got to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep going.  The journey will make you stronger and smarter as a business person.

You know one of my new years goals this year was to do something that really pushed me outside my comfort zone. Lining up at the start of the 50K was a little terrifying, but it was also exhilarating and sometimes the best experiences in life come from those times we push ourselves – both in business and in life – so that we’re standing just outside our comfort zones.

Related Articles:

* Taking A Breather May Be The Best Thing For Your Business

* You Can’t Do It All 

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