What the first week of marathon training has taught me about my business
This week, I signed up and began officially training for my first ever marathon. It’s kind of odd to be typing that out, if I’m being honest, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a long time. I have my eyes set on the 2024 LA Marathon, and I’m giving myself a full year to train for it. I have run two half marathons years ago, but this is my first go at a full 26.2 miles.
In my first week of training, I noticed there were a few things that made me think about my business a little differently:
Figure out what will make a difference, and then make those things non-negotiables. When it comes to marathon training, I’m prioritizing the things that will help make my training easier and healthier: hydration, stretching and foam rolling, and nutrition. For my business, I know that consistency in posting and community building will make a difference. I know that I need to make each of these things non-negotiables to continue to make positive progress in both of these endeavors.
You can plan it out, but if you don’t schedule time for it, it’s not gonna happen. This goes for running, cross training, stretching, etc. but it also very much goes for content batching, engagement and updating that freebie you’ve been meaning to get to. I’ve been taking a closer look at my time management over the last few days, and I’ve identified a few areas where I could definitely improve to be able to fit in everything that I need to do from business tasks, to training, to boring household chores. I started by brain dumping to do lists for each area of my life, and then scheduled them out into my Google calendar and paper planner. You gotta plan out time for things to happen, rather than hoping you’ll get there if it’s on your to do list.
Do small things to make tasks easier. I’ve found that the key to staying hydrated is for me to have a big bottle of water nearby at all times. Eating better is easier if I meal prep and buy groceries based on those meal ideas. Finding small ways to set myself up for success has been a game changer for my business, as well. I have an ongoing list of content pillars to pull content ideas from.
Get help from an expert when needed. This weekend, I went and got fitted for proper running shoes. Can I tell you… I was a full shoes size off from what I would have picked out for myself. This is something that’s important to consider in business, too. When I started my business, I was (and still am) very confident in the social media side of things, but I knew much less about selling or running a business. These are things that I’ve decided to get help with from professionals who know that side of it and can help me get where I want to be. This is what I do for business owners who started their business to share their product or service with the world rather than spend their time trying to figure out social media.
Ultimately, taking the leap and signing up for the marathon and also starting my business have been two of the most nerve-wracking things I’ve ever done, but also two things I’m incredibly proud of myself for doing. I know I can reach my goals with both of them, and I can't wait to share my journey with you.
If you’d like to follow along on this journey with me, follow me on Instagram @BrittDoesSocial or sign up for my weekly newsletter where I give business owners tools they need to help connect with their potential clients on Instagram.
Originally posted on March 26, 2023
