How to run a marathon

Say you're taking up running, and you've set a goal to run a marathon in the coming year.

How can you make that happen?

The simplest answer is something like, "Pick a marathon, register, and go run it."

But that's obviously incomplete.

If you've never run a marathon before, your chance of just showing up and completing one, on willpower alone, is just about zero.

To achieve this goal, what you need is to become a person who can complete a marathon.

And that will require a system of training: A series of daily and weekly habits that you adopt to build your endurance and your understanding of the marathon experience.

That's not just a commitment to running a marathon. It's a commitment to daily improvement.

So here's the thing:

If you have goals for the coming year, that's great (and if you don't, I hope you'll take time to set some}.

But to reach those goals, you'll probably also want to think about what it will take to get there, and to build in daily and weekly habits that will make it more likely to happen.

Goals are important to aim for. Systems are important for getting you there.

All the best,
A.