We often use the analogy of life as a journey, for indeed it is. Another familiar metaphor is that it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Any analogy will break down with critical scrutiny, but most serve to help us gain perspective on things by contemplating the simile.

You’ve probably heard the concept that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in the short term but underestimate what they can accomplish in the long term. This is so true and especially important when it comes to setting and achieving your goals.

“People tend to overestimate what can be done in one year and to underestimate what can be done in five.”
~multiple authors and variations

Image by skeeze from Pixabay

It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Many people give up way, way, way too soon. You’ve probably heard it or said it, some equivalent of, “I tried that and it didn’t work.” These are common sentiments often uttered after only a try or two. Yet the learner or growth mindset recognizes that to be good at anything always requires consistent practice over time.

Even the proverbial “riding a bicycle” concept on the list of things we never forget took time and practice and probably a few scrapes and bruises before we were whizzing around the neighborhood.

The point is that too often, if we don’t achieve our goals as soon as we’d like, we give up. It feels too hard… impossible even, or like a sign from the universe letting us know it wasn’t a good idea… not right for us or what God intended.

Proven Path to Success

The reality is that things take time, and anything worthwhile often takes a lot more time than we’d imagine. Running a marathon isn’t one and done. Rather, it’s many months — even years — of arduous daily training to get to that place where we can actually run and finish the marathon.

If you’re a professional sprinter, then yes, you need to train over the long haul for that too… to make a marathon of your training. However, most of us can sprint for a short stint if we need to. From a literal sprint through the airport to catch a plane, or a mad dash when we hear our child scream, to a metaphorical sprint to meet a deadline at work, we can sustain that intensity for a short time and get more done in less time.

But for the day in and day out effort to achieve our goals, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It is in the journey that the way becomes more clear and daily steps in the direction of our dreams is a proven path to success.

To participate… to try, and to persevere. That’s the real win.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®

How to Elevate Your State Any Time, Always

Often, when we’re unhappy in the present it’s because we’re dwelling in the past, worrying about the future, or frustrated by where we are versus where we want to be in our lives. The fastest way to turn that around is to change our state and the fastest way to change our state is to shift our body and our thoughts.

For me, exercise, brisk walks in nature, and especially, bicycling the hills in our neighborhood while listening to favorite upbeat music elevates my state of mind every time, and virtually instantly.

The moment I plug in my earbuds and throw my leg over the seat for the first push of the pedals, my body and mind are now trained to get into flow state almost instantly. For some it’s engaging in your art… singing, dancing, painting, writing… You can do this too, with whatever works for you.

Positive Conjuring

With practice you can train your body to respond to the rituals that can replace any negativity with positivity. The more you practice, the quicker your “animal body” and “lizard brain” come into the higher command of your consciousness through conscious effort until it’s responds automatically.

We’ve written about this extensively through many other articles on this website. Positive empowerment is a foundational theme of iCreateDaily because our attitudes and approach to life is the difference between success and failure, between happiness or misery, and even between life and death. Examples of this fact have been portrayed in numerous survivor stories, including Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, and Dr. Edith Eva Eger’s book, The Choice.

So we won’t elaborate much more on the alchemy of transformation here, but encourage you to peruse some of our other articles. You’ll find this theme everywhere here, and with particular focus in some of the articles linked in this one.

The day is the way to create the life you want to live. Transformation through creation.
~iCreateDaily.com®

You’ve Got to Move

To elevate your state and get unstuck, the first requirement is vigorous and dynamic movement, and the second — most important — is positive thoughts. Integrate positive visioning, affirmation, invocation and/or gratitude into your movement and music practice. For me it’s a combination of all of these.

And… to elevate, energize and infuse your mind-body with positivity, you MUST dwell on positives and reframe and replace any negative that comes in with an alternate positive.

From My Motivation and Biking Playlist

Sharing here one of my bike-up-the-hill songs. I vision my future goals while doing this strenuous exercise followed by long, wonderful downhill glides in the wind.

It’s exhilarating and never fails to uplift my spirits, refresh, energize and elevate my state of mind.

Don’t Let This Feeling Fade – Audio

Lindsey Stirling with Rivers Cuomo and Lecrae, vocals

In the video after this, Lindsey shares her inspiration for creating the song, with wisdom she’s gleaned along the way about being in it for the long haul.

Don’t Let This Feeling Fade – Lyrics

Lindsey Stirling with Rivers Cuomo and Lecrae, vocals

What really matters in life?
Is it a sprint or a marathon?
And will the finish lines make us happy?
Or are we glad we can run at all.

Can’t fall, when I’m sleep, I’m chasing a dream
When I wake up and it’s over, what did I gain?
Gain, turn it up, let me hear you live
Everybody tunes in just to hear you win.

I’ma race to the finish line when I’m done.
I’m worth more than a gold that I never won.
One, one life, one love,
can’t win ’em but lose all the above.

Don’t let this feelin’ fade,
launch into the sky like a private plane.
Hang on, we’ll ride this wave,
watch the tide come in a little…
just a little more each day.

Don’t let this feelin’ fade
Don’t let this feelin’
Hang on, we’ll ride this wave,
launch into the sky like a private
Fly like a private plane

Don’t let this feelin’…
Don’t let this feelin’ fade
Turn it up, let me hear you live.
Don’t let this feelin’…
Don’t let this feelin’ fade
One Life, one love.

What really matters in life?
Is it a sprint or a marathon?
And will the finish lines make us happy?
Or are we glad we can run at all.

I never do it to lose
but losing occurs,
And when I do it for the love,
Lose never hurts.

Lose… lose grip of what I can’t hold.
Who you fooling with that handful of fool’s gold?
Lose, lose when you do it for the wins only,
love gave you meaning, it never was a trophy…
It never was a trophy… yeah, enjoy the race on me.

Don’t let this feelin’ fade,
launch into the sky like a private plane.
Hang on, we’ll ride this wave
Watch the tide come in a little
Just a little more each day

Don’t let this feelin’ fade.
Don’t let this feelin’…
Hang on, we’ll ride this wave,
launch into the sky like a private… fly like plane.

Don’t let this feelin’…
Don’t let this feelin’ fade
Turn it up, let me hear you live.
One Life, one love.

Focus on the Moments You Have

Lindsey Stirling sharing the inspiration behind this song.

“Don’t let this feeling fade is about not focusing on the finish line that you want to cross but it’s about focusing on the moments you’re in and the feelings you have, and embracing them, rather than constantly looking into this distant future and hoping you’ll get to these destinations and goals.”
~Lindsey Stirling, musician, dancer, choreographer, entrepreneur, entertainer, b.9/21/1986

“A gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.”
~Line from coach in Cool Runnings, but who was not the real life Jamaican Olympic team coach^[1]https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/triplej-breakfast/the-real-story-behind-the-%E2%80%9988-jamaican-olympic-bobsled-team/12238990

Seth Godin Wisdom

Seth’s blog post of 1/23/21 sums it up perfectly.

YOUR BIG IDEA

It’s probably not completely original.
It’s probably not breathtaking in scope.
It’s probably not immediately popular.
But… it’s definitely worth pursuing,
consistently and persistently
for years and years.
If you care. If it’s generous and helpful and worth the journey.
All the big ideas that made a difference follow this pattern.

~Seth Godin, entrepreneur, author, teacher, founder Alt MBA, 1/23/21 blog post

See more Seth Godin quotes here, and about his book for creators, The Practice, here.

Your consistent and persistent creative pursuit is definitely worth the journey and the long haul. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. So settle in for the ride… and enjoy each day along the way.

Take up residence with your goals and settle in for the long haul.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®

Cover image by skeeze from Pixabay

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