Quotes

#TheRunningWriter QOTD


Slay the Giants.

*****

Yesterday we talked about identifying the giants in our paths. Today we zero in on how to slay them.

Identifying the giant is the first step, because how can we fix or change something we don’t see?

What we face off with can be internal or external giants. Internal can be my perceived ability to do something – or not do something.

Confidence is a huge giant to overcome for a lot of us. It shows itself to me in forms of doubting questions/statements: What if I fail? People will laugh at me. I’ll look like a dork. What if I’m not strong enough?

Our self-talk can really bring us down a dark path, huh? Working on busting through that self-doubting talk is a great place to start slaying giants.

When you hear the negative thoughts coming into your mind, stop and reverse the thoughts or add on a few more words. Like the examples above could be rephrased to: Hey, at least I tried. People might laugh at me, but at least I’m trying. At least I’m learning. I’ll be stronger for this. I am strong.

And hey, if people laugh at you, laugh with them. Have fun and remind yourself that you’re not perfect and neither are the people laughing at you. We’re going to fail and make mistakes. The sooner you’re ok with that the more freedom you’ll experience.

External obstacles…anything can be thrown at you and can throw you for a loop. Over the previous years, a few of mine have been the unexpected death of my father in law, frequent illness, broken foot or injured hip, etc.

Any one of those could have thrown me into a funk…and actually did a little. Especially the death.

Depression settled over me, affecting my motivation to work, to write, to exercise. Those are three things I love, and they were tainted.

How’d I face off with those giants? I enlisted the help of my close friends to pray for me, meet up with me (even when I didn’t want to go anywhere I met up with them) and hold me accountable.

Having that external accountability of checking in with someone helps. Gets me talking, and talking helps. Getting my feelings off my chest with someone I trust helps me process them and slay them one by one.

Broken foot-having a small goal to strive for helped me get through the struggle of recovery. Because it felt like I’d never overcome the injury if I don’t have a goal. When I didn’t want to do rehab, the goal helped me stay on track.

Overall, slaying the giants takes concrete action and goals. Writing them down then checking them off helps. Having people to check in with keeps you accountable and focused. It breaks the larger goal into smaller ones to check off.

So what’s the small goal you need to set next to slay that giant in your life?

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NYT & USA Today Bestseller & ultra-runner known as #TheRunningWriter. Agents: Joyce Sweeney & Nicole Resciniti of The Seymour Agency.