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5-MINUTE FRIDAY: Being A Beginner Is A Prerequisite For Greatness · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Happy Friday, everyone, Happy five minute Friday.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Emily. Here you are listening to Hurtle.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: I am feeling a bit anxious, but mostly excited because
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: I'm running a half marathon tomorrow. If you're listening to
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: this in real time in Brooklyn, the New York road
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Runners Brooklyn Half, I'm running a half marathon in Brooklyn tomorrow,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: and I am sitting here reflecting on gosh, my first
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: half marathon. For context, I ran my first half marathon
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight, and this was the cherry
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: on top of what had been a new found.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Love affair with running.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: So I won't get into the hire spiel today, but basically,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: if you are familiar with my backstory, I went through
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: a pretty large health transformation in college that resulted in
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: me losing about seventy pounds. The first part of that
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: was learning how to eat better. The second part of
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: that was learning how to love running. Running was something
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: that I was made to feel like I could never
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: be good at from a young age. I didn't make
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: the JV volleyball team in high school because I couldn't
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: run a mile in under ten minutes. Fast forward, now,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: I think that my PR marathon time, which is virtual,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: always feels like a little asterisk, but I need to
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: note there is a seven forty seven pace. So ironic
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: that back in high school I didn't make the volleyball
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: team because I couldn't run that mile in under ten minutes,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: and that dissuaded me from sport for long time. It
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: became a part of a really upsetting statistic, which is
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: that young women drop out of sport at twice the
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: rate of young men. And so as part of this
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: weight loss journey, I began to run again. And it
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: started with a half mile every day over the course
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: of a summer, and eventually that half mile became a mile,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: that mile became a five k, and so in two
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: thousand and eight, I made the choice to sign up
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: for that first half marathon and really invested in myself,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: invested in that goal. I was so proud when I
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: finished that half the official time two hours, forty three
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: minutes and thirty three seconds, which is again crazy if
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: you take a step back and look at the journey,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: because I would never have run a three hour and
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: twenty three minute, fifty six second marathon double the distance
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: if I hadn't done the two hour forty three minute
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: thirty three second half marathon. Progress is a beautiful thing,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: and everyone has to start somewhere, And that is what
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: I'm reflecting on as I sit here thinking about this
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: half tomorrow, not towing that starting line with any time
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: goal in mind.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Tomorrow is just a fun run for me.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: But with that said, the fact that I can say
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: something like I'm going to have a fun run for
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: a half marathon tomorrow and I get to run four
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: or five days a week because it makes me feel
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: like my more capable and confident self, that is something.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Those sentences are something that my younger self in two
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: thousand and seven could have never imagined saying, and here
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: I am. The thing is is that we often wait
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: until we feel ready to take a leap. But I'll
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: be the first person to tell you that the readiness
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: is actually found in the doing. The readiness is actually
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: found in the doing. Whether it's your first mile, your
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: first project, or your first big change. It doesn't have
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: to be pretty. It just has to happen. So if
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: you're willing to embrace that awkwardness in the beginning, the
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: unknown in the beginning, that will be your gateway to
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: the finish line. The version of me that ram that
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: first half marathon eighteen years ago. She could not have
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: imagined where this path would lead. And so I want
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: to say to you this week that if you're feeling
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: like a novice, lean in. Being a beginner is not
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: a hurdle to get over. It is a prerequisite. It
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: is a prerequisite for greatness. So if you keep showing up,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: and you keep stumbling forward, and you keep being in
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: this place where you are willing to make mistakes, then
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: you can conquer the hurdles as they come. That's it.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: That's the podcast. Okay, I live, you know me. I'm
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: going to answer a listener question which, speaking of listener questions,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: the pool is running dry, and I want to answer
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: yours for context. I know I yapp a lot about running,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: but this isn't always about running. I'm also a certified
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: wellness coach. I'm a woman in my late thirties that's
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: lived in New York for something like fifteen years. I've
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: got a lot of experiences and a lot of thoughts
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: to share, and I'm willing to answer your questions that
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: revolve around any of those things. So hit me in
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: the DMS, whether it's over on Instagram, at Emily a Body,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: or at Hurdle podcast or over email. You can always
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: shoot me a note at Hello at Hurdle dot us.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: And now this week's listener question, Hi Emily. My name's Andrea,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: and after almost two decades of working for someone else,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: I recently started my own PR company. My question for you,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: knowing that you also work for yourself, is when you're
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: the one in charge of your own schedule, how do
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: you actually get things done on the days when the
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: motivation just isn't there? And beyond that, what are your
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: best tips for designing a schedule that actually works for you?
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: Would really appreciate your insight. Thanks so much. Can I
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: tell you, Andrea, I have been my own boss since
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: I'm like trying to put a timeline together twenty seventeen,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: so almost ten years now, and I still feel like
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: I'm working through this. However, I have certainly refined what
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: works for me at this point. The first part of
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: your question, how do you actually get things done on
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: the days when the motivation isn't there?
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: You set a time to do list.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: This is my full proof way to make.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: The work work for you.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: So if you have a proposal, you need to write,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: or emails you need to answer, or a specific task
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: to get done. Give yourself a realistic time period of
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: which you're going to execute that item, and I promise
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: you that deadline will help you get it done. When
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: you're just sitting at your desk, or if you're working
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: from your couch or wherever you might be and you
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: don't have that timeline, it definitely allows the mind to wander,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: and so this will help you stay on task. That's
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: the first thing that I do when I'm not feeling
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: super motivated. The second thing I will offer you is
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: that you have this really great flexibility now, which means
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: that you can kind of pivot your environment when stuff
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: feels like it's not working. So if you're sitting and
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: you're staring at a screen and nothing's clicking and nothing's happening,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: and you're feeling frustrated, get up and shake things up,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: take a walk around the block, maybe call a friend.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Use this time as an opportunity to check something else
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: off of your to do list. I promise you, when
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: you take a break and shake up the energy there,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: it will work in your favor. Now, when it comes
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: to designing a schedule that works, for you. The best
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: piece of advice that I'll offer is knowing when your
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: best product windows are. I am someone that definitely works
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: best in the front half of the day, So knowing
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: that I'm my most creative or my most focused before
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: let's say lunchtime, then I will schedule meetings in the
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: afternoons when possible. So that means that I'm maximizing my
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: outputs by knowing when I work best. I mentioned that
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: to do list before. If there's like an appointment or
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: something else that I need to do, I'm always making
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: those in the afternoons, knowing again that my best, most
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: focused work happens in the morning. And like I said
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: at the top of this answer, it takes time to
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: figure out what works for you. It takes time trial
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: and error. So have grace with yourself. Be kind to yourself.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: It's not an easy thing. There is nothing wrong if
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: you are not the kind of person that would thrive
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: at designing your own schedule. It is totally fine to
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: be someone that loves and thrives when working for someone else,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: when working in an all in somebody else's office.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Whatever works for you is.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: It's what makes me happy for you, That's it so
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: here to help, however, I can. Like I said earlier
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: at Emilybodi at Hurdle Podcast, Hello at hurdle dot us,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: send me your questions and I'll answer them on an
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: upcoming episode another Hurdle Conquered.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: Catch you guys next time.