Marathon in 1.5 wks... Had some thoughts while running today... the same stuff I usually think about when runing...actually getting down to writing them. As you get older, you are less apt to change. In high school I was all about self-improvement and change. These ideals sorta faded into the background in college. It's not that I'm uninterested in self-improvement, but i guess it's just not as prominent in my mind. Despite this, my primary motivation for running this marathon has been to improve my self-discipline. I would describe myself as an unmotivated person who hates thinking about and planning the future, but in the grand scheme of things, I think i'm way ahead of the curve. I think the fact that I label myself as "unmotivated" is because I recognize that while i'm not the least motivated in the person in the world, motivation is definitely one of my weak points and there's plenty of room for improvement. Which leads me to my theory on what differentiates a motivated person who will improve themselves in many different ways throughout their lives, and someone who is unmotivated and will only achieve a small part of their potential and never be any more than they are presently. Acknowledgment You can't become a better person if you don't acknowledge your weaknesses/problems. This is the first step to self-improvement, yet most people don't get past this step because they're too proud to admit that they have faults. But really, what is a person without any faults? A perfect person. And we all know there's no such thing. Acceptance and Excuses We're all blessed with specific gifts and talents, both mental and physical. You will be better at certain tasks, while inferior at others. ACCEPT the facts as they are, but DON'T let them become excuses. Too often I hear people blame genetics for something, and just leave it at that. I'm naturally skinny, i'll never be very muscular, but that has never stopped me from hitting the weights at the gym. It's fun to work your strengths, but your weaknesses are what you should really be working on. Which leads me to my next point... Avoid Avoidance Nothing irritates me more than someone who avoids something just because they're not good at it. Just yesterday I went out with two friends to hit some baseballs. We had a "home run derby", which I had a lot of fun with even though going into the game I knew I was far inferior to my other friends at hitting. Of course I lost badly, but that shouldn't mean I can't enjoy myself. If you can't enjoy an activity just because you're not that good at it, I can't help but see that as being narrow-minded and in a sense, presumptuous. In a way, you want to be a dick and only participate in things you know you'll win? Man the fuck up, you learn more by losing than by winning. There's also a second part ot avoidance, and that's avoiding things that are necessary to reaching a certain goal because you just "don't like it". For the most part, the easy things in life aren't worth doing. If I were fat, I'd run to lose weight. I'm skinny, so I lift weights to bulk up. Neither running nor lifting is particularly enjoyable to me; what I enjoy the most about both activities is the high from exercising and knowing that the activity is improving my body. Hell, I like eating certain foods just because I know how good they are for me - i can't even tell if i actually like the taste. Derive pleasure not in the activity, but knowing what it's doing for you. Don't look at the means, but at the end. Showing up is half the battle Less talking more doing. It's all good and well realizing you need to do certain things and wanting to do them, but you won't get anywhere if you don't kick into action. You might not fulfill what you set out to do on your first attempt, but at least you tried. Today I planned on running 7 miles. I only ran 5.5. I'd rather have failed at running 7 miles than not having tried at all. Don't make it into a habit though. 90% mental, 10% phyiscal I guess this mostly applies to physical activity. The human body is a lot stronger and more resilient than most people give it credit for. Wah wah wah, it hurts, blah blah, suck it up, or figure out an intelligent way to deal with it instead of just saying "i can't". Have a plan Self-explanatory. My two training partners for the marathon were self-proclaimed "fat-kids" when they were younger. Training with them has gotten me to think about motivation and the desire for self-improvement. It's really impressing to me, training with them, and has really gotten me thinking again about how I can make myself a better person. | 
