Renewed Belief

Monday, December 11

Casey Neistat is a YouTuber, film maker, videographer, creator, entrepreneur and runner. He mentioned yesterday that 17 years ago he set a goal to do a marathon in under 3 hours.

He set the goal in 2006. He ran 24 marathons and didn’t break the barrier. That’s not just 24 attempts at running 26.2 miles and not hitting his goal. That’s also training for 24 marathons. Putting in hours, days, weeks, months of work for a marathon. 24 times. For 17 years.

I’m sure he got discouraged at times, but he didn’t quit. I’m sure he questioned himself and the goal at times, but he kept going. I’m sure plenty of people told him it was fine, he gave it his best shot and that’s all that mattered, and that it was okay to move on. But he kept showing up.

A goal he set at age 25. And yesterday, at age 42, he accomplished it. 17 years of training, of exhaustion, of failure, of frustration, of commitment, of dedication, of quieting the Critic and listening to the Champion. 17 years of showing up. Not 17 days, 17 weeks, or 17 months. 17 years. And it all paid off. Why? Because he believed it was possible, and because he committed to it. He never stopped pursuing his potential.

Goals take time. Growth takes time. Transformation takes time. Just because it’s difficult, just because you’ve fallen short before, just because the voice of doubt is getting loud, doesn’t mean you’ll never get where you want to be.

Maybe today what you need is a renewed belief and refueled commitment. Keep going. The best version of you requires it.
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Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin