An Important Question To Ask Yourself

I started running in 2009. 

Five years after I had made a promise to myself that I would run the New York City Marathon. 

It took me another four years — until 2013 — to feel confident signing up for the race itself. 

And even then, I wasn’t sure whether I actually had it within me to run 26.2 miles. I remember training for that race in Central Park and seeing other runners with finisher shirts from the previous year. The back of each shirt had the word “marathoner” on it.

Watching people pass me with “marathoner” on their back, I started to want that shirt so badly. 

I wanted to call myself — and I wanted the world to see — that I was a marathoner. 

I’m guessing I wanted that as much as you want to call yourself a traditionally published author. 

What I didn’t know then was how that shirt, as simple as it was, proved to me that my goal was possible. I would see someone in that shirt and think, It happened for them. Why not me?  

I thought that over, and over, and over again. Eventually I didn’t have an answer about why I couldn’t complete 26.2 miles. Even when training and the race itself got difficult, tough, and painful, I wanted that shirt and the title that came with it. 

So, I’ve got a thought experiment for you. 

The next time you see a competitor or colleague or another entrepreneur online doing something you want to do, think — It happened for them. Why not me?