In October of 2007, I ran my first marathon. It was the Marine Corps Marathon which is run every fall in Washington DC. I trained for about six months and ran it in just over five hours. There were several times along the course that my knees bothered me (ironically, my hips, which would be replaced six years later, didn’t hurt at all), but overall it was a great experience.
As I neared the end of the course, I felt a sudden burst of energy. The last quarter mile was an uphill grade to the finish line but I picked up my pace. About 100 yards from the finish line, I moved into a full sprint. As I crossed the finish line, a Marine kneeled down and undid the timing chip from my shoe and hung a finisher’s medal around my neck. I was proud, and totally spent. Sitting down while I waited for my wife to find me (she finished the race about an hour before me), I thought about my high school football coach.
“Why are you sprinting Munro?” he screamed as I sprinted in from running laps. “If you have enough to sprint, you should have been pushing yourself on the run!”
As we near the end of 2021, most people are planning for a final sprint in the last few weeks of the year. We finish projects, set goals, and set up plans for the next year. I guess we think we’ll feel a sense of reward and accomplishment as we use our last bit of effort to complete the year.
But have we pushed ourselves enough throughout the year? SHOULD we save up some energy for that last month? I’m not so sure.
What would it be like if we treated every week as if it was the last week before the new year? What if we ratcheted up our effort early in the year?
It makes sense to me anyway. Because I own my own business, all of my effort is directly proportional to my success. If you own your own business, this also applies to you.
But what if you work for somebody else? What if your effort only minimally impacts you, but gives greater profit and success to your boss or your company? Does it still makes sense to push yourself?
YES. YES. And YES!
Keep in mind that everything you do or accomplish will impact your current success. It will also wind up on your resume. Your hard work, problems solved, and money made or saved are a story to tell a prospective employer. If you did something amazing, it will set you apart from other candidates. It also applies too that when you haven’t pushed yourself, it’s one less accomplishment you can share. Done enough, it might be what gets your fired from your current position.
So as we wind down the year, think about how much you have left in the tank. Go ahead and sprint to the finish line, but maybe next year, think about how you can push just a little harder. We all should finish strong, but we should also feel as though we pushed hard all year, not just the past few weeks.