OK, I understand why
you run, but why run a marathon?
In retrospect, one
of the reasons that I decided to run a
full marathon is that I felt I wanted to improve my determination in things
completely unrelated to running.
It seems that one of
the strongest driving force behind determination is the belief that you will
succeed. Even if the way will be difficult, even if there will be pitfalls,
even if you will experience temporary defeat, even if your surroundings will
have doubt in your way - the belief that
you will ultimately prevail keeps you going.
Only if you believe you will
eventually succeed, it is worth the effort to take a more difficult path that
requires determination.
As a side note, I
think it's worth mentioning that success is not necessarily about achieving
goals, sometimes it is the way that matters. But for the sake of a focused
discussion, I define success in this post as achieving a well defined goal.
Since ultimately we
are slaves to our memories, they are probably the most determining factor in
our belief in our ability to achieve goals. So following that, one of the best
ways to improve your determination is to set non-trivial goals and achieve them. In order for that to be effective, it is
better to select long term goals that require perseverance and determination
and that are measurable.
The memory of
success in one goal will help you to move on to the next possibly more
challenging one with higher levels of determination.
I think that the
goal of running a full marathon provides this need for me.
Of course, I
wouldn't recommend taking just any goal that answers the above requirements,
especially if it is time (our most precious asset) consuming. The goal should
be justified in other ways.
Lastly, two pictures
that demonstrate that determination is not an intellectually imposed concept,
but rather part of our inborn nature:
