Running Up Hill

Do not try to run uphill at the same speed as you run on the flats. Focus on matching your effort, breath, and heart rate, not your speed.

This was one of the first and most memorable things I learned from a coach when I started running. A single tidbit of advice that has stuck with me for over ten years. Every time I’m running hills (a lot around here!) I remember it. While I was out on the trails the other day I realized that it applies to life too.

As responsibility increases so too does the hill you’re running. And, might as well also add on a weighted backpack for kids, families, caregiving, you name it.

Whew - mind blown - why did I not make the connection years ago when I was burning myself out in a corporate job? I can rattle off a whole host of reasons that I would have given in the past as to why there was no possibility of slowing down. The short of it is, it didn’t matter the effort and energy exhausted to maintain the pace. I felt like I had to.

Anxiety starts to boil up just thinking back.

The pace was dizzying and there was no room to slow. However, what I know now is it was all B.S. Seriously, complete conditioning and a hot steaming load of crap. The number of people who I know and worked with for many years or are in my circles and have found themselves burned out, desperate for a break, hospitalized, or with serious health issues is too many to count. It hurts my heart. Our culture perpetuates this myth that we must maintain the pace. And now, I see it perpetuating and shifting as many people are working from home and no longer have a clear delineation between work life and home life. Talk about even more exhaustion!

So here’s the thing... if you think you can’t slow down and are reading this thinking I’m the one full of crap... with love and compassion I see you, hear you, and feel you. The pressure feels so real. Yet, it’s just not true. It’s a myth. Please stop trying to run uphill with everything on your back at the same pace that you run at ease on the flats.

Take a deep breath and slow it down.

Find your pace and find your pause.

It’s in the pause, in the slowing down, in the space created that the magic happens. And whether that magic is physical healing, more love and compassion, or insights and incredible manifestation it’s all right there. When you recognize the hill you’re on and back off a little bit it suddenly becomes easier not only to get up the hill but to keep running beyond it. Most of us aren’t running a 100 meter dash, it’s more like an ultra marathon and we must maintain our energy throughout it.

This is simple yet not easy. I get it, I’ve been there.  And while the hills feel endless there is flatter ground ahead. There’s so much beauty and joy to experience during and beyond the hills.

Start small, look for the moments in your everyday life that you can use as micro pauses, added breath, a slowing of the pace. And see how it starts to feel with a bit of practice and awareness.

Are you even aware of the hill you’re on and the weight you carry? Have you acknowledged it?

And as you begin to find more ease and let the pace slide you actually start to notice the view and your surroundings. This is a bit of added magic.

As one little piece of advice from a coach stuck with me for all these years I hope this too will start to do the same for you. This is what I’m called to do and to share as a coach and entrepreneur myself. I invite you in for more if you’re ready to do so. There are so many layers to each of us and our worthiness is often tied to all that we ‘do’ and how fast we get it done. No wonder it’s exhausting. There is so much juiciness for each of us to discover and transform. This is the tip of the iceberg.

There are massive shifts that we can make in our lives yet it’s the small ones that begin in our everyday moments that are the catalyst. Start here. See where it leads you.

Let’s transform your everyday life.

xoxo