Over my lifetime, I have run 26 marathons, plus numerous other “fun runs” that are as long or longer than the marathon distance. I am definitely not the best runner in the world and have never won any of these marathons. However, I am also competitive with many other runners and usually finish in the top 5-15% of the field.
I have even qualified for the Boston Marathon a few times and have won a couple of shorter, local races. Overall, I consider myself to be a fairly good runner, but not the best one out there.
However, if I lined against 7 other people in a 100 meter race, I would probably finish last or close to last.
Speed is definitely not my forte and I haven’t been blessed with the most fast-twitch muscle fibers in the world. But, like I said, I still am able to do well in longer races like the marathon.
Of course, this is because a marathon is about much more than speed. Instead of speed, a good marathon runner will have a lot of endurance. Even though I can’t run 100 meters very fast, I can keep running for a long time, and eventually outpace many of the people around me.
Endurance in life
Like success in a marathon, having success in life is also more about endurance than speed.
To be successful in life, we need to realize that life isn’t just a sprint. Instead of trying to get rich quickly, we can put in the work and realize that eventually we can gain financial freedom.
When we get our first job, we can start saving money and investing for the future. Although it may not seem exciting to slowly put money away in index funds, having endurance with saving will allow us to be successful. Maybe this will allow us to retire early, travel more, or give money away to causes that we deem worthy. Or maybe our endurance will provide us with other opportunities that we haven’t thought of yet.
It will be tough for us when people around us immediately buy huge homes and new cars right after they get their first job. It may feel like they are winning in life and we are not. However, by enduring and doing the right thing when it comes to money, we will notice that we eventually are winning. As they are complaining about credit card debt and that huge monthly payment on their home, we will be content knowing that our endurance is paying off.
By diligently saving every month, avoiding or paying down debt, and not giving into the consumer culture of spending, we will notice that our happiness and contentment is always improving. And isn’t that what life is about? We don’t have to try to “win” and get more assets than everyone around us. We don’t have to always be sprinting towards the next, best thing. We just need to continue to endure and make Relentless Forward Progress towards our best life.
So make sure that you focus on endurance in life. Remember that continually doing the right thing will definitely pay off in the future, even though it sometimes may feel like everyone is ahead of you.
Let us know in the comments how you are building endurance into your everyday life.
And thanks for reading!
~Nathan
Let’s keep living a great life … with the help of money. So what’s next?
- You can travel for free by using rewards credit cards.
- You can get motivated and get out of debt.
- You can check out the next post or the previous post and continue to learn.
But no matter what you decide to do, let’s leave the ordinary behind and take action today!
2 Comments
Laura
As a distance runner I get this and love the analogy. But, I have gone through periods of training where I am less motivated and have not achieved all of my goals. How do you keep the motivation high?
Life Before Budget
I find that intermediate goals work pretty well here. For instance, if my goal is to run a marathon 3 years from now or pay off my house by the time I’m 45, I may not be motivated because those goals are far into the future. Instead, being able to work towards shorter term goals keeps us motivated and also leads to long term success.