Remind Run Repeat

There’s one word hanging over my desk. Thanks to a summer spent in a preschool where the ratio of teacher to student was 1:2, HB (age 4) can now read it. Standing under it and looking up, she sounds out the letters:

“R says ruh, U says uh, N says nuh. Ruh-Uh-Nuh. Run!”

Yep, the word over the desk is RUN. Not that I have been. I’ve been out for two weeks. 

I felt guilty for a week or so but I don’t now. My ankle was hurting, my shoes are going bad (again!) and I’m not that excited about the group I’ve been with. They’re nice but I haven’t made any real friends there.

I bailed like HB at dance class. I am still looking for a NE Cola running group (send suggestions), but taking some time off. I'm changing direction.

So why does the word RUN have such prominence on my desk? What the heck does it have to do with Kasie’s Autonomy? It’s a mantra reminder.

I’ve said before how powerful I believe mantras to be. Repeat after me: love the mantra. Simple phrases that remind us of much bigger concepts. Repeated, the mantra can create a focus zone.

So the mantra that I’m reminded of when I see the word RUN?

I run because it’s hard. It’s hard because I don’t do it with the consistency and passion that others apply. I hate to run. I dread going, I’m miserable while I do it, and the payoff is good (not going to lie about that) but usually isn’t good enough.

But I don’t want to be afraid of hard work. I don’t want to take the easy way out. I don’t want to fail to achieve my goals because I was too lazy to do the work.

I’ve said before that I don’t believe all people who fail are lazy. So don’t get crazy and think I’m being a big achievement snob that thinks 47% of people are useless.

I’m not talking about other people. I’m talking about me: I’m not lazy.

Sometimes, like yesterday, I have to remind myself that it’s okay to take a rest and that resting doesn’t mean I’m lazy.

More importantly, days like today when the weather is nasty and I don’t have anything scheduled and the future is waiting for me to make it wonderful and I don’t even know where to begin, I have to attack the part of me that says “good enough is good enough” and the part that says, 

“The problem with going out on your own is that you have to do all the marketing and sales-pitching, too.” 

I have a mantra for attacking self doubt and other-people's doubt:

To get what you want you have to work for it. Earn it. Chase it down the street and tackle it. Take it.

I had a great spin instructor in Easley who used the mantra: no one’s going to do it for you. 

To which I would add, in my head, “if you want it, Kasie, TAKE IT.”

Like running, achievement requires a dedication to the habits of achievers. Those habits, thanks to Stephen Covey, are pretty easy to identify. The two I keep front-and-center are: First Things First and Principle-Centered Decision Making. More on the 7 Habits and Covey’s life instruction book some other time.

For now, know I’m running.

What's your mantra that keeps you running? Imagine it here:

Share it in the comments.