How Running Helped Me Run My Business

30 days ago I went for a run.

Now that might not seem like headline news, but it was a big deal considering that I hadn’t run in over two years.

Not because of some serious injury or illness. But because I was starting a new business.

Any transition – whether it’s new entrepreneurship, divorce, parenthood, a new job, even kids being home for the summer—can take so much out of you that other parts of your life fall by the way side.

Even when change is positive, like starting a new business was for me, it requires so much attention that it’s easy to let other things slip.

In my case, my commitment to self-care plummeted from 100 to just about zero.  Not only did I fail to exercise, with the exception of a lame 10 minute walk with my dog each morning, I think I consumed just about every variety of chip that’s ever been invented (did you know that there’s a chocolate Kale chip and that, despite being a superfood, eating a whole bag in one sitting is probably not the healthiest thing to do?).

But back to the run.

I don’t know what compelled me to start exercising again that day. Perhaps it was that we finally had a dose of warm weather. Or that I had a little more time in my schedule. Or maybe I finally had enough of reaching for chips every time I faced something in my business that felt difficult or overwhelming.

So run I did.

Not surprisingly, it was awful at first. The three-mile loop that I easily could finish back in 2012 seemed like a marathon. I panted. I cramped. I had to stop at the bottom of the hill.  When I finally made it home, I collapsed on the coach, white flag in hand in surrender.

But now, a mere 30 days later, I am running about 2-3 times a week and it’s not that awful anymore. In fact, it’s pretty fun. I’m still panting, but I no longer cramp and the best thing is that I can now make it up the hill.

Actually, scratch that. The best thing is that now the very tasks that I used to resist in my business no longer feel that hard. In fact, they’re pretty fun now too.

To run my business I had to run from my business. I couldn’t spend 24/7 thinking about it. In fact, doing so made me less productive, less creative and less motivated. The time had come to carve out at least one of those hours on something that helped take care of me. Not my business. Me.

So whatever task or endeavor occupying your energy these days, take time for your own version of a “run”  – even if it feels inconvenient, uncomfortable or even awful at first, as it was in my case.

Before you know it, you’ll make it to the top of whatever hill you are climbing—where the view and perspective is so much better.