Only the last lap counts

I just ran 15 miles. Marathon training is upon me. I usually run at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which has a nice big loop around its grounds, parking lots, and adjacent golf course that’s just over three miles. I ran five laps, and it took me about two and a half hours. 

The issue is that I’m in decent running shape already. So the first few laps don’t mean much as far as training goes. Those laps keep me in shape, but they don’t necessarily get me in marathon shape. My legs don’t start to hurt until the last lap. That’s where all the gains lie. I just have to run for two hours before I get them. 

This got me thinking about personal growth, business growth, and even social account growth. What we’ve done already, and what we’re already good at doesn’t help us grow. It’s the discomfort that causes us to grow. It’s creating on the days when we don’t feel like it. It’s taking on more business risk than we’re used to. It’s having more difficult conversations than we want to. 

Even though we’ve all done so much work to get where we are now, we need to keep doing new things, and pushing a little further if we want to keep growing.