I don’t come here to disparage speed runners. After all, Olympic athletes in the 100 meter race can reach speeds of over 40km/h. Let’s talk about ordinary people like you and me. Walking or running 100 meters is easy, if you don’t have any condition that prevents you. Running a marathon, or 42km, is no longer for everyone.
In addition to my Triathlon races, including Ironman 140.6, I ran the dreaded distance at least 4 times. The name, marathon, was instituted as a tribute to the ancient Greek legend of the Athenian soldier Phidippides, a messenger from the Athens army, who would have run 42 km from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce the victory of the armies to the city’s citizens. Athenians against the Persians. The poor guy died of exhaustion after completing the mission.
Fortunately, nowadays cases of death in marathons are rare. Technology and methodology have evolved so much that today humans are able to cover this distance in less than 2 hours, a feat accomplished by Eliud Kipchoge, the Kenyan legend among those passionate about the sport, which gives an average of more than 20km/h. For any mere mortal to run at that speed for 100 meters is already challenging.
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What does this have to do with entrepreneurship? Do you set up a company overnight? Do you create a product and sell it without planning? Do you go out on the street looking for customers without a strategy?
In the same way that it took me years to prepare for my first marathon, anyone who dares to venture into entrepreneurship needs to understand that it will take time to get there, that it will be painful and, above all, that uncertainties will come.
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Cast the first stone for the runner who prepared hard and, weeks before the long-awaited race, got injured or fell ill, which made it impossible for him to participate or complete it. Or the one who didn’t perform his best in a training session and felt like the worst runner in the world.
Running teaches us that the path is long, difficult and challenging. Sport teaches us that defeat is a companion and teaches us that we don’t always win, on the contrary, we make more mistakes than we get right. Remember the Pareto rule? 20% of our effort will generate 80% of the result. But, to get to that 20% correct, we need to make mistakes 80% of the time.
Running teaches us about resilience, learning not to give up. If you leave the feeling of stability in your job and start a business, it’s like killing a lion a day, not knowing if the monthly bills will be paid.
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Those who don’t learn to deal with uncertainty, have emotional stability, lose. Do you think you never wanted to give up in a race? Countless times, but I taught my mind to say no and move on.
Entrepreneurship is about resilience, consistency and perseverance. The geniuses are not the ones who win here, but rather the ones who last the journey.
