I’ve been referencing my sister’s Ironman competition all this week since we’re all still on a high from her finish around here. It got me to thinking of all she has been through in this journey of hers. It has been quite a ride. As I’ve mentioned, she didn’t wake up one day and decide to run the next Ironman. She has worked and trained for about a year to prepare for this. And it has paid off. She feels good after that physically draining race. We went for a walk on Monday. We went kayaking yesterday. She hasn’t had to lay around for a week in order to recover because she was prepared and ready for this race.
But that’s not always the case. Sometimes you may bite off more than you can chew and end up with results you were not hoping for. My sister had several friends in this race with her and a number of them didn’t get to finish at all. The time cut offs for this race are a hard line. You have a certain amount of time to get through each category and if you don’t make that cut off, you are disqualified. I know that my sisters’ friends are already talking about the next race when they can get their finisher medal. You learn a lot going through an experience like this. You learn what worked and what didn’t. You figure out what you need to do better to be more prepared for the event. This can be applied to any aspect of your life.
If things are going the way you hope they are then it is time to assess the situation and see where you need to make changes. Sometimes you have to make decisions you don’t necessarily want to in order to get where you want to go. When I got my first job in radio it was at Q102 in Philadelphia. It was a very popular station and I was really proud to be a part of it. But my goal was the be on the air and it was made very clear to me that was never going to happen there. I didn’t have enough experience. I was told I needed to go to a station in a smaller market to hone my skills. After working about every position possible at Q102 I realized I wasn’t going any further. So, I did find a morning show position at a station in another town. I was moving away from my hometown and living on my own for the first time. It was a little scary and the worst part is I didn’t want to leave my current job because I loved working there. I remember talking to a friend while out one night about how sad I was to leave Q102. He told me that it’s great when you love your job but when you are looking for a career you have to do what you need in order to make that happen. BAM! He was exactly right. And all I needed was for someone to put it in those words for me to understand I was doing the right thing.
I felt like a failure because I couldn’t talk them into letting me continue to my career path there. I wanted to be part of that on-air staff so bad. But it wasn’t happening. So, I worked on the morning show at this new station for about a year before I was offered a full-time job in Philadelphia doing news and traffic. I took that position and before long I was working on the morning show…back on Q102 but on the air this time. Sometimes you need to take a detour or make a different turn to get where you want to be. Sometimes it will feel like a failure. But if you keep learning and keep working toward your ultimate goal, you will get where you want to go. Take it from me. Take it from my sister. Take it from her friends. Failure isn’t the end of the road. It’s just a detour.
It is hump day already! Take a little time to today to think about what detours you may need to take to get to your ultimate goal. Are you headed in the right direction or do you need to take a turn? And while you are pondering…make it your best day yet!
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