Don’t give yourself options. Options create indecision. They cause trepidation. You can’t “somewhat” do a diet. You have to follow a certain plan for it to work. Moderation gets nothing accomplished. Options are what killed some of the races I’ve run before.
“Should I go Back?”
“Should I bail on this road?”
The races that I’ve had to push through and finish, I didn’t have a choice. If you put yourself into any situation thinking “I can just stop or quit,” you’ve already done it. Many times, when I give myself that option, I take it. The second that doubt starts creeping in, it’s very hard to come back from it. I can’t tell you the countless times I started a diet and went strong for weeks or months. Once I gave myself the option to go back to my old eating habits, I did. My failure gave me the justification to keep eating horribly. It’s also another reason why diets don’t work.
When I ran my first ultramarathon, I struggled. My training had not gone right. I was injured. I got to the most remote aid station of the race. I heard a race official tell another runner that they had 3 hours to make it back to the finish. it was 10 miles away. I had just come 22 miles. There was no bail out but I could not wrap my head around completing the race. There was no one to drive me back. I had to complete the 10 miles whether I finished in 3 hours or not. I texted my wife and told her about my doubts. She acted like I was crazy. Her response to me was, “You can do 10 miles in your sleep!” I finished. I didn’t have a choice.
When we give ourselves an out, we will most likely take it. I know I do. It still happens to this day. It’s something that we all struggle with. Sometimes, throwing in the towel is ok and doesn’t affect anything. Other times, those decisions follow us. Set the goal. Set a timeline. Follow it through. You’ll fail along the way, I still do, but make forward progress. Your small achievements will turn into great accomplishments.