My Blueprint for Success

Last Sunday I ran a half marathon.

Now, I should tell you that I'm not a runner. I'm not built to run. I'm built to lift. But I wanted to do something way out of my comfort zone, so I chose the St. Louis Rock N Roll marathon to run.

Along the 13.1 mile run I learned and rediscovered some life lessons that I want to share with you here.

13.1 lessons I learned while running a marathon:

1. Preparation is the key. I trained for 12 weeks, I developed a training plan and stuck to it.

2. Taking Action is a must. You can make all the plans
you want but it you don’t take action on your plans, vision or goals, then your plan is just a dream

3. Have good support around you. My Mother, Flora Johnson
died from cancer while I was training for the marathon. Support is everything. I had my friends and family helping during this stormy period in my life. I had you giving me words of prayer and encouragement on Facebook. Have a support system.

5. Acknowledge then destroy negative self talk. Guess what? You’re human, and you’re going to have negative self talk when things get tough. I know I did from mile number 10 all the way to mile 13. The trick is to know that you’re having it, and then to tell yourself to shut up, and plow forward.

6. Trust people who are experts to teach you. Don’t try to
reinvent the wheel.

7. Success is 1% information and 99% application. Once again action is the key. Take one step at a time.

8. It's not running 13 miles, it's running one mile 13 times. In the process of challenging yourself to achieve something great there is personal growth that is greater.

9. Do something different. Get out of your mental comfort zone–muscles expand when you give it resistance and you’re mind expands when you step out of your comfort zone.

10. Be willing to do whatever it takes. For me it I had
to run during the heat of the day most of the time. But I was willing to do that because I wanted to spend time with my Mom during her final days.

11. Be a leader, not a follower. Lead by example-you tell your family to get out of their comfort zones, so you do the same.

12. Ignore the haters. You’re always will have people who tell you that you can’t do it. Ignore the haters.

13. Push yourself. Your mind, body and soul are infinitely more resilient than you give it credit for.

13.1. Use the power of prayer. Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

I hope these lessons were as valuable to you as they were to
me