Chasing your Vision
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ARE YOU CHASING YOUR VISION OR RUNNING AWAY?
I was one of the 38,000 people daft enough to set off from Newcastle last Sunday to run to South Shields. The Great North Run is one of those iconic sporting events; the world’s largest half marathon. To take my mind off the reality of what I was doing (running 13.1 miles non-stop!) I looked for metaphors that might mean something to other entrepreneurs. Here are some casual observations:
1. Do what you need to do to prepare and don’t worry what others might think.
Imagine thousands of blokes with their hands down their shorts, smothering their tender bits with Vaseline and you have a vision of what preparing for a long run is for many. I don’t suffer from chafing, but many do. They ignored the indignity and prepared to succeed. To succeed in business, you must also expose yourself to ridicule and prepare as you know you must.
2 .
Keep your tank topped up.
Dehydration is the main cause of runner collapse at this event. You don’t feel like drinking yet you need to replace the water lost as sweat. A business is the same; doing the books and watching the cash flow is rarely appealing when the going gets tough, yet it’s vital if you’re to maintain speed and reach your goal.
3. Take tough decisions and act on them.
After seven miles I needed a pee. I had to close my mind to the thousands of people running past me and do it against the wall in an underpass. I’d have preferred not to, but the alternative was going to be increasing discomfort. In business, you need to risk embarrassment and act quickly and decisively to deal with problems that won’t go away on their own.
You’ll be pleased to know that I finished the run in 2hrs 20 minutes and raised more than £500 for Diabetes UK.
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