Baby Steps

I’m not a runner – but I’m training for the New York City Marathon.  I’m doing

English: Marathon de New-York : Verrazano Bridge (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

it to raise moneyand awareness for a horrible disease that my father is living with called ALS(Lou Gehrig’s disease). I’ve been training since the first week in July. I started slowly. Only 3 miles on the first day.  Concluding the first week with 16 miles under my belt (it hurt).  Last week I completed 43 miles of training (I felt great).  I did it s-l-o-w-l-y.  I used a road- map, and gradually became stronger. Slowly upping my miles until I hit the most miles I’ve ever run (last Sunday’s 20 miler).  This thought process and way of approaching a huge goal is the same way I become involved in social media to the point where I am now percieved as a “social media expert.”  I didn’t hop on stage with Gary Vaynerchuk during his 2008 keynote at the Web 2.0 conference.  I went home and began to study.  I chipped away. I asked for help.  I went on “informational” interviews. I certainly had a goal in mind, but I also knew that I needed to get better, and the only way to do that was to study – to put my head down and work.  I contacted everyone I wanted to know in the industry (Gary included) and I asked them for help. I wanted to learn.  I did – but I did it s-l-o-w-l-y.

Gary Vaynerchuk Keynote (Photo credit: djwaldow)

Now, when I go out for a run, I don’t even think about the training I did when I first started. It’s now become second nature – I’ve built up resilience   Think back to when you first learned how to tie your shoe. You may have said things out loud like “loop, loop, bow, pull tight”…now you can tie your shoes while on the phone, watching TV, and burping your baby (at the same time).

So today, slow down. Study, take your time. Build your foundation.  Think of it as your first small run leading up to your 20 milers (in my case hopefully 26.2 on November 4th).

Take that first step.