Latest / Forged In The Dark / Proof in the Poof: Why the Work Is Working Before You Can See It
Transcript
- Forged In The Dark: All summer long it looked like the work wasn't working. The absence of proof is not the absence of progress. Welcome to Forged in the Dark. I'm your host, Jamie. Let's dig in. Just because the work does not seem to be working does not mean that it's not working. The absent, the absence of proof is not the absence of progress. Think about all of the great success stories throughout history. They all have times of hardship. They all have times of struggle. They all have challenges. But they didn't quit. They didn't give up just because things got hard. Now, if you are new to me, if you're new to the show, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 24. And along with that diagnosis came a long list of things that I was told I would never do again. And it took Years of following the doctor's orders to a T for me to wake up to the fact that their recommendations weren't working for me. And ever since I had that realization, I have been working hard to prove them wrong, retraining my brain and my body that it is safe to be hot, that it is safe to be cold. Creating a life where I use mindfulness tools to manage and reduce stress so that I can live the life that I want, not the life that someone else is projecting onto me. I I have proven that you can get a diagnosis and still lead. A healthy active lifestyle, or or not just lifestyle, but it is the lifestyle that allows you to lead a healthy active life. But there was one thing on that list that I didn't go near until New Year's Eve of 2025. And that's when I set off on my first run. And the first six months was not without its challenges. But there was measurable progress. I could look at the times, I could look at the distance, I could, I could look at everything and see, ooh, I'm getting better, I'm getting better. And then summer came along. And summers in Texas are hot. This summer was humid. I was running in in humidity of like 92 to 96%. I was running in dew points of 72 to 76%. My fitness tracker was telling me this is a heat advisory. You need to be careful. People don't necessarily train in this weather. But me and my run group, we had these runs planned all summer to build our endurance to build a base for the half marathon training. And this feels a little bit vulnerable. But you guys, these summer runs were not fun. They were not pleasant. They were hard. They were sweaty. I I had more issues with my knee. where in the spring I was really proud of myself that I got to three miles and I was consistently running three miles without stopping. And then summer came and I can't run the three miles without walking. And and we get when we get to to the hills, I'm struggling and it's hard and it hurts and I can't breathe. And did I already say the sweat? I sweat more this summer. But I can't stress enough the discouragement. It it didn't matter that my my tracker was telling me. You you're not slowing down. This run didn't suck. You are running in extreme conditions. Your body is working extra hard. All summer long people were telling me you're doing this training and the fall is gonna come and it's just gonna open up. But there were points where I didn't quite believe it. But here's the thing: I didn't stop. I didn't quit. And this makes me think of a recent conversation with one of my mentees. And I've talked about this on this show before. She has cloned the term, there is proof in the poof. And I use this because there is proof in the poof. We were on a call one day and she said, Jamie, I just I don't understand every single thing that you have me doing. I am doing it and and my joy is increasing and my gratitude is increasing and my relationships are increasing and people are noticing that I'm different. But then all of a sudden, on a Random weekend. I was out of the state visiting my mom, and all of a sudden, poof, it all came together. The email with the contract came in. The I won't share all of her stuff, but she had this day that all of the proof was so evident. We got on that call and she says, Jamie, there's proof in the poof. There's proof in the poof. You don't always understand why you keep showing up and putting in the work, putting in the reps when the results are not coming in. But this is where a lot of people tap out. This is where a lot of people quit. And I hope that you are not one of those people. Because on Saturday, between Friday night and Saturday morning, we we got a cold front and the weather dropped 50 degrees overnight from a 98-degree day on Friday to a 47-degree day on Saturday. And And I anticipated the cold weather. I I was excited to get my run tights and my compression socks and head out the door. But what happened next I never could have imagined. I ran And I'm not saying I didn't walk at all. There, there were some really steep hilltops, and I did walk just the top of the hilltop. But I consecutively ran for nine point nine miles. What? Proof in the poof. All summer long I was running thinking, I was failing. I I was running questioning, questioning whether I could complete this half marathon. I mean when I had the second knee issue this summer, that was really discouraging. Because now I'm running, I'm doing modified runs. I'm not running with my run group anymore because their style doesn't work for my knee. How on earth am I going to complete a half marathon if I can't even run three miles? And all it took was the weather. To change the mental and physical energy that my body was using to stay cool, all of a sudden was now redirected to the engine. This is fuel. All summer long, all of those hard reps were building endurance. So this is my call to action to you. What that? Thing that you are doing, and and you're discouraged. Don't quit. If you need to modify the plan, modify the plan, change the plan, never the goal. It can be incredibly discouraging to keep going when the proof is absent. But the absence of Proof is not the absence of progress. And you must keep putting in the work and allow yourself to get to the poof. Okay, that's what I have for you today. Until next time.