“Oh, I thought you liked running”
Not really.
No, it’s not fun going for a run first thing after waking up and it’s raining/snowing outside. But what it does for me is priceless.
I also don’t like things like brushing my teeth, taking ice baths, meditating, etc. I’m referring to the activities themselves here. But I know that they are needed. Each activity serves a purpose.
The magic formula here is realizing how all those things affect your life, instead of focusing on the actual activity. Thinking long term.
Let’s take brushing my teeth for example. I hate it. Still, I do it at least two times per day. Why? Some things I can think of are: not needing to go to the dentist to fix them later on, having strong and healthy teeth makes eating more pleasurable, and white teeth making me more attractive.
The same goes for running. I don’t think it’s fun to run for hours and hours. The body might hurt. It might be raining. My mind keeps telling me to stop. For hours. That’s not fun or pleasant.
That’s why it’s so important. You won’t go through life with everything being fun and pleasant. You will lose the people you love. You might go bankrupt. You might get sick. The list is endless.
If you voluntarily choose to do something hard, you will handle the involuntary hard times better.
Self-confidence
Another thing it does is build your self-confidence. Especially if you’re training for an event and have a training plan. Every day you show yourself that you do the things you “promised” to do. When you’ve completed one event, set the bar higher and do it all again.
When you’ve done a few events like this, events you thought were impossible for you to complete, and you know exactly who you are. You don’t lie to yourself. That brings you the kind of self-confidence no expensive car or watch can give.
