322: Actions Create Results

People often set a goal or talk about what they want to accomplish, but something gets in the way.  Sometimes they take the wrong actions that lead to the wrong results, and sometimes they don’t always follow through with the actions necessary to achieve their wanted results.    

In today's episode, we want to help you understand how to create the results you want in your running and your life by understanding the deeper roots of our actions (or lack of actions).  Once you know the root of it all, you can start taking small steps towards the results that you want in your running (and the rest of your life!)

Highlights of the episode: 

• How action or inaction creates results 
• The root cause of our action or inaction
• How to start seeing progress today or this week with one small shift 
• and more!

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Transcript

0:00

This is the real life runners podcast, episode number 322. Actions create results.

Angie: 0:29

hey guys. Welcome to the podcast this week. Before we begin, just a quick reminder. If you haven't left us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify yet, could you please do that? It would take just about 60 seconds for you to just pause this episode, click in, you know, write a quick review about the podcast. If you are enjoying the podcast, please be sure to write us a review so that we can reach more runners. Yeah. Reviews are super helpful. I like, I like seeing the reviews. Even if you're not enjoying this podcast, leave a review. No, frankly, it's another review. No, don't, don't, don't leave us a bad review. Five stars only. Um, okay. No. So today we're going to talk about how actions create results or how. Actions speak louder than words. That's some, one of the things that I was thinking about when outlining this podcast. And so today we really want to help you understand how to create the results that you want in your running and in your life, because oftentimes we see people setting a goal or talking about what they want to accomplish, but they don't take the necessary actions to get there. And they can fall into two categories. Often, sometimes they're taking the wrong actions and then they don't end up with the results that they want. And sometimes they're not taking. action at all, and then they don't end up with the results that they want. Either way, there's, there's this idea out there of something that they do want to get. Yeah. And then, I mean, whether you're taking the wrong actions or you're not taking actions, I, I think that you're taking actions and getting a result off of that, which is kind of what we're going to get into here is the entire idea that your actions are going to create your results, whatever those actions happen to be. All right. So let's just jump into this. So the first thing we want to talk about is this idea that actions create results. And so like we said before, sometimes people take the wrong actions towards the results that they want. Like there's a result that they want, and they end up taking the wrong action, which then leads to a lot of disappointment or feeling like a failure because they feel like they're taking action, but it's not leading to the result that they want.

Kevin: 2:27

But it's the action that they think is leading to the result. That's the idea behind this one is, you've got a goal, you've got something that you're striving for, and you're pretty sure that the actions that you're taking should get you towards that. It just happens that they're not actually doing it. Usually, sometimes you're putting this block in your head and you're actually taking actions that sort of are avoiding the best path, but you are in fact doing stuff. You are, like if you have a running goal, you are getting out and running. You might just not be training in the most ideal way for your particular goal.

Angie: 3:02

Right. And so I think that's really what we want to focus on more is people that are taking actions that they think should be leading to results and aren't getting the results that they want.

Kevin: 3:11

Okay. So what's a good reason why this would happen?

Angie: 3:13

So some examples of this would be like people that are pushing harder on every run to try to get faster. They think, because it does make sense, that if I push harder, I then should be able to run faster. And the more that I push myself and the harder that I... You know, work out in each workout or the harder I push myself in each each speed workout or forget speed workouts, just any run every run, right? If I just push myself harder then that should lead me to getting faster. And this works in the beginning, right? And this is the thing that I think is really tricky about this one is that this does work, especially if you're a newer runner. If you are a newer running runner pushing harder. Is going to get you faster until it stops working.

Kevin: 3:56

Yeah. I mean, but if you're bringing new, like a brand new runner pushing at all, it's going to get you faster. Anything new is a new stimulus and that's going to get you faster. But this was, I mean, in my head, this is my high school trap is I got into running. It was not a thing that I did. So I started doing it. I pushed really hard and I got pretty solid results. I didn't. Really pay enough attention to notice that continuing to do the same thing my senior year did not get me further improvements I was like, oh, well, I'm getting faster. The incremental improvements should get smaller So I am still sort of improving but I wasn't I was kind of stagnating and then I went back to it in my 20s It was like no, no push really hard get faster. And and I just didn't at all,

Angie: 4:36

right? So, I mean if we can kind of like take it take a step back here and think about like other things or other ways that this is true of like how do our actions create our results just kind of looking at the concept in general okay right so if our action is eating a meal the result that we have is feeling satisfied or feeling full generally like fueling our body if the action that we take is drinking water that the result is being more hydrated, right? Maybe, maybe you're still not totally, fully hydrated, right? But you are more hydrated after drinking water. So this is, that's kind of what we mean when we're talking about how actions create an outcome, right? So, kind of going back to the, to the running idea and um, if you run, you are going to have some sort of results. Maybe that result is... You know, you are, you went from being able to run one mile to being able to run two miles or to be able to run three miles. Maybe your, your goal is to increase your mileage. And so you go out and every day you run a little bit further. Maybe your goal is to get faster. You want your result to be a faster 5k, right? So say you go out and you're like, okay, I want to run a faster 5k. I want to PR my 5k. So I'm just going to go out and I'm going to run 5Ks and I'm just going to push a little bit harder every time I do it to try to get faster. And like we said, that might work in the beginning, like when you first kind of start on that strategy. But then there's going to come a time where... your progress is going to plateau

Kevin: 6:07

and probably then start regressing, especially if you go with the, I just am going to keep pushing because eventually you're going to hit that plateau, try to overcome the plateau by pushing more. And instead of your body responding with another boost, it's probably going to fall backwards because you're pushing too hard and starting to break down your body just way too much.

Angie: 6:26

Right. And so talk a little bit about why that happens. I mean, every time you go out and you push to a difficult level, it, you've stretched your, yourself to a longer distance, you've put yourself through a speedier workout, or it's an easy run and you're pushing it to a medium or harder effort, then running is gonna be like a catabolic breaking down the body kind of action. Right. And if you're not taking enough time to recover from it, then all you're doing is day upon day breaking the body down. Over the long term, that's not going to get you... The results that you're actually aiming for. Which are stronger and faster. Which is the complete opposite. That's the anabolic results. You have to break your body down. You have to stress yourself, but you have to actually then build yourself back during the recovery phase. And at first, because you cannot put massive stresses on your body, even though you are breaking down and breaking down and breaking down, your body's able to build back a little bit because if you come from a running base of almost nothing, You can't go out and knock out like 6, 8, 10 miles on the first run. So the breakdown just isn't that huge. So as long as there's enough food going into your body, it's going to build back decently. But as you keep doing it, and keep doing it, and keep doing it, eventually you don't have the ability to build back up. Right. So another way that we often see that this kind of Play out as well is runners that are increasing their mileage too quickly. Okay, because if our actions create our results, let's say you want to run a longer distance, say you want to run a half marathon. And so you're like, okay, great, I want to run a half marathon. So a lot of times we see people that decide they're going to run a half. And so they sign up for one. That's just a couple of months away, even though they haven't been running consistently for over three months, they see this half marathon as motivation. They're like, I need to get back into running. So I'm going to go ahead and sign up for a half marathon, the run sign up motivator. Right. And so what happens here is they're like, okay, the result I want is. To get back into running. The result I want is to run a half marathon, but the action That they're taking is signing up for a half marathon before they're actually ready for a half marathon, which then leads them to increase their training load too quickly, which often then leads to burnout, fatigue and possibly injury for most people. Some sort of ache or pain or injury pops up.

Kevin: 8:49

And possibly not running the half marathon, right? Like if you get hurt, Over, like, say you sign up for a half marathon that's two months away, and you've been super inconsistent, max run of like two to three miles, two months is not going to be enough to successfully build yourself up to that half marathon distance. You're going to be pushing too fast, you're going to be exhausted all the time, and you might not even make it to the starting line. So if the goal here is, I want to run a half marathon, and you sign up for one over way too short of a timeline, you're not going to get to the goal, because your actions did not set you up. It seemed like it was, sign up for a half marathon, therefore I'll run a half marathon. But you didn't give yourself the right timeline, so you're taking an action that's just not... Like, I'd like to take a highway from point A to point B, but I'm going to take the first exit ramp. Like, you're not going to ever get to point B because you're taking the exit ramp too quickly.

Angie: 9:43

Right. And a lot of times, like, kind of along that line are people that want to run a half marathon, but they keep skipping their long runs on the weekends. Or they're, they opt to race a bunch of 5Ks instead, right? Like, you're still running, you're just not running the amount that you quote unquote need to run.

Kevin: 10:01

In order to be best prepared for the half marathon. I like that you put both of these things in because they kind of sometimes can go hand in hand. Yeah. Like, most people do their long runs on the weekend. The local 5K shows up on the weekend. Right. And suddenly you've signed up for a half marathon or you've told people that you want to run a half marathon. But now, these are just such the most exciting community 5Ks that you've ever seen before and you're just knocking out a 5K week after week after week and you, you just don't have time. to fit a long run into your schedule because look at all these 5k's that you're going to race. I feel like you're purposely putting up blocks in front of you instead of being able to go out on your long run. Well, I don't know if it's purposely or if it's more Uh, subconsciously that they're doing this, right? Like I think that some people do this subconsciously and their idea is good. Their intention is good. They're like, Oh, like I'm just going to go and I'm going to get in some of these five Ks. But what happens then is that they have to continuously adjust their training schedule.

Angie: 10:56

if you're constantly adjusting your training schedule, then you're not actually following the training schedule. You're not actually following the plan as it's written. Adjusting here and there is totally fine, right? Life gets in the way. Sometimes. That 5K does pop up and it's a really important 5K to you.

Kevin: 11:11

You know, October is coming up. There's a lot of breast cancer awareness runs coming up. Maybe you had a family member or a friend, right? And there's something that means a lot to you by all means do that race, right?

Angie: 11:22

And adjust your training plan. But if this is happening all the time or on a regular basis, that's when we have to kind of look at this and say, are the actions that you're taking actually going to lead you to the results that you want? Or are the actions that you're taking leading you to different results?

Kevin: 11:38

And you have to be real honest with those questions because it's very possible that the answer is they are leading to the results that you want. That what you really are going for is consistency in your running. Enjoyment with the running community, you like racing and being surrounded by groups of other runners, and maybe the 5Ks are bringing you joy. Maybe that half marathon sounds like a cool goal, but there's a reason why you keep skipping the long runs. You don't enjoy long runs.

Angie: 12:09

That's true.

Kevin: 12:10

Like, it's quite possible that you've put this goal out there, and you're taking different paths that don't seem to be getting you to the goal, because you actually don't care that much about the goal.

Angie: 12:20

Right, like sometimes people get into this. Um, kind of get sucked into half marathons because they're running groups are doing it or because they heard that they need to do a half marathon or for some reason they put that on themselves. Like in order to be a real runner, I've got to do at least a half marathon or a marathon, you know, insert whatever race distance you want here.

Kevin: 12:39

Right? Like it's not just about half marathons. It could be a marathon. It could be a 10 K, whatever it might be.

Angie: 12:45

You don't have to do any of that, right? Like, what actually means something to you? What actions do you want to take? What sounds really fun? And what results will that lead to? I think that's a good way to look at it, too. Like, we can look at it as in, Here's the results I want. What actions do I need to take? But we can also look at the opposite way of, What actions am I taking? And what results are those leading to? Is that actually what I want? Is that really what I want to be working towards instead of, like, this arbitrary goal that I had set for myself?

Kevin: 13:14

Right. Like, if the goal that you set for yourself is not actually important to you, it's possible that it's not that you're taking the wrong actions. You're taking actions that aren't leading you to the goal, but maybe the goal is wrong. Maybe your actions are correct, and you need to actually just pause for a moment and reevaluate your goals. Yeah. And if part of your goal, which is mine, is to have fun with running, then sometimes you got to pause and be like, okay, do I keep skipping that workout because that workout is hard and I don't want to deal with the challenge or do I keep skipping that workout because that workout is leading me to a, a, a race goal that I really don't want to do because I don't think it sounds fun. Yeah. This was kind of like when you. Wanted to, like, had this very brief instance where you wanted to PR your one mile and run a marathon in the same, like, month, right? Like, the same training cycle. I forget, but part of the goal included But it was like a mile PR and a marathon. Yeah, but definitely part of it was mile PR. And I did the first workout that I'm like, alright, if I'm gonna be starting to chase my mile PR, I need to start hitting workouts like this. I did one of them. I was like, I don't enjoy that kind of workout. I don't think I'm gonna chase my mile PR. Yeah, I don't want a mile PR anymore, and I'm done I'm happy with where I was back when I was a teenager. That will be my mile PR. I'm good to go Yeah And I think that's really important like there are certain things about running that all of us enjoy and there are certain things about running That we don't enjoy as much right and depending on what your goal is Sometimes you need to do the things that you don't enjoy very much, right? And if that's if you have a goal if if say, you know This is one of the things that I came up against when I wanted to run a half marathon Which is I didn't like tempo workouts at that time I'm now much more a fan of tempo workouts, but at that time I hated tempo, but I knew I had to do it I really liked the shorter, faster speed work. So I really looked forward to those days when I got to do that and that would kind of, then I would just kind of get through the tempo stuff because that's the stuff I didn't really like as much, or if we even go back even further, I didn't like the long, slow distance runs. Like I appreciate that stuff now. So things can shift and things can change, but take note for yourself, you know, what is it about running that you're enjoying right now, and then maybe. Let that guide you towards choosing a goal versus the other way around. Yeah, I mean, I think that you can look at the, that first topic there in both directions because I think joy is important in the running process. All right, so let's move on to part two. So now at this point we understand how our actions create results, right? So I think that when we.

Angie: 15:48

When we think about action, we often think about what are we doing, but there's the other side of the coin as well is what are you not doing? What are we not doing? Because inaction or lack of action also creates results, right? So when I think of this idea, I think of people that say they want something, but then they don't take action to achieve it. Yeah. And I think we've all done this, okay? For sure. Like, I know I'm guilty. I know you are. Like, this is not something that is just, you know, just you. It's all of us that have done this. We say that we want something, but then we don't actually do the work to get there. Yeah, I'm currently in the middle of doing this in multiple areas of my life. Like what? Like creating a training plan for myself for the race that I want to get to. There you go. Well, so, We have to look at this because when we do this to ourselves and we all do this to ourselves, it leads to a lot of disappointment, like in a lot of shame and guilt, right? Like we're like, I want this thing. Why am I not doing it? You know? And we're like, oh, I just need more motivation or I just need this or I just need that. And it's like, well, let's just back up and take a look at it for a second. Right. Because. Now we know actions create results, and then not doing actions also create results. They're just not the results that we want.

Kevin: 17:00

Either way, there's results coming. Either way. Inaction is action. It's just doing what you've always been doing, which might not be some new thing, but there's still action involved, so there's still going to be results involved. Right, and so one of my mentors teaches a concept of passive action versus massive action.

Angie: 17:18

This is from Brooke Castillo over at the Life Coach School. Coach School, and I'm sure there's other people teaching in different ways as well. But she, the way she defines it is passive action is kind of doing some things that Make us think that we're taking action. It feels like we're taking action, but we're not actually taking any sort of productive action. Right? So things like that fall into passive action in this category are like doing research, reading about it, listening to podcasts, always learning, looking up races. Yes. That's my big one. Rather than sign up for a race, rather than create a training plan, why don't I just look at all the different race options that I could sign up for? Right, all the possibilities. Like, there's another person I listen to, he calls it mental masturbation. Uh huh. Right? And it's like, you're thinking about the things, and you're, but you're not actually doing anything. You're not doing a damn thing. Right, exactly. So that's passive action. Then, we look at massive action, right? a step. It doesn't have to be a big step, but you're actually taking a step towards whatever result it is that you're wanting, right? It's, it's interesting that it's set up as passive versus massive. And I get that the rhyming scheme is in there, but it doesn't have to be this enormous thing that sends you back to the first one of, well, I want to get faster. So I'm going to push harder every day. And that's not what it has to be. It simply needs to be taking. Uh, actual physical task towards completing the goal. Right, so that's, I like to kind of think of this as productive action. Good. Because, and there's so many words that you can use here, but I agree. It's not that it has to be a big action. It just has to be a step. In a direction. In a direction. Like take a step. Do something. And, and don't get me wrong. Passive action. Doing the research. Reading about things. Learning about things. All of that is important, but a lot of us, myself included, tend to get stuck in this phase. Yeah. Right? Because I am the kind of person that likes to have a lot of information at my disposal before I make a decision. I don't like. Forming an opinion about something unless I feel like I'm informed that will often lead me to Reading too much reading, you know looking into things and just kind of delaying My opinion delaying actually making a choice or taking an action Um, or, you know, forming an opinion on any given topic. Right. Eventually, like, three weeks later, you're like, Alright, I've created my opinion. People are like, I don't remember what the topic was. Wait, what are we talking about again? Right. And I think that, like, it's, it's something that's very easy to get stuck in. Especially those of us that are very, um, you know, that like intellectual stimulation.

Kevin: 19:57

Sure. That like to read, that like to learn. Like, I am a learner by nature. That's one of my strengths, um, of, like, my personality. I took a very cool, like, personality test, and learner was, like, number three on my list. I love learning about things, but it can keep me stuck. And it's now that, you know, I know that about myself, I can... Notice when I'm allowing myself to stay stuck in the learning phase of things versus the actual doing phase of things. And I think that we need to move into the doing phase so that we can get a result. It might not be the result that we're looking for yet, right? But we need to take an action so that we get a result and so that we can then decide, Okay, what's the next action I need to take so that I can move closer to my goal? Because maybe... The first action you took moved you in the wrong direction or moved you just kind of sideways, a little parallel. Maybe you're not taking any step forward. So taking action, taking productive action, whether or not you get the result you want or not, is still going to give you information so that you continue to take the next step. Right. Learning is great. And like, from a running perspective, you can listen to podcasts and read books and do all sorts of stuff about like what the best training plan theoretically would be for you. But until you start trying one of them and still you start actually moving down the path and seeing how that's working, you're not sure because there's, there's options in training plans. There's trying to figure out, you know, which direction do I want to go? How is this going to best fit my life? Until you actually start doing things, the learning is theoretical. Ultimately, like, you're a study of, of one, so you have to take the actions so that you can learn how those actions reflect back on you, and then if you need to, make adjustments. Or if you need to just stay the course, stay the course and keep taking little step after little step after little step, because that's how you accomplish huge goals, is by taking the little steps. Exactly. So. When we go back, going back to our half marathon or marathon example, these are the people that want to run a half marathon, but never actually start training, right? They keep looking up races, talking to friends, but they never actually commit to a plan or to a race. Don't even know how long it might take them, right? So unlike the person that is like, yep, I'm gonna sign up even though the race is in three weeks These people are just kind of on the opposite sale. I'm just gonna keep looking things up I'm gonna look up what training method is best for me, but I'm just gonna keep doing things I'm not actually gonna sign up for anything. I'm not gonna Take an action that's actually going to move me towards that. Yeah. And then every once in a while you get to the point where it's like, Oh, I should have signed up for that one three weeks ago. Yeah. And then you feel bad about it. Right. You're like, Oh, and then the race gets here and you're like, Oh man, I really wish I would have. So then you should research the next race for several weeks. Yeah. And you know, another thing that kind of triggered this idea triggered was our cross country team. So, um, those of you that don't know yet, or maybe you're new to the podcast, if you're new, welcome. We're glad you're here. Um, We coach a high school cross country team every fall, and we were talking to the team, you know, we obviously talked to them about mindset a lot as well, um, and we were talking to them last week about the actions necessary to achieve the goals that we have for the season. Yep. And our goal every year is to make it to the state championship meet. And so... I have the team tell me what is your goal, right? And that was what they came up with. This isn't like a goal that I want to put on them. It's obviously our goal as coaches, but I want them to come up with this idea. And so all of the girls, we'll just, we'll talk about the girls team for now. They all said our goal is to make it to States. Yep, right and so I said we said okay great So we as your coaches, we will do everything we can to help you achieve that goal But if you want to achieve that goal You're going to need to listen to us and you're gonna actually need to do what we're telling you to do and one of the things that we need you to do is to run on the weekends when we are don't have Official team practice. Yep. And this is what we're gonna need you to do. And so today on a Monday I checked in with we checked in with them We had three days that we didn't have official practice because we didn't have practice on Friday school messed up practice on Friday It couldn't happen. So there were three days We told them you need to run two out of the three days. Make sure you take a rest day But of the other ones, this is what you're supposed to do. And so today we checked in with them and asked them, Okay, how many people ran this weekend? How many people ran twice? How many people ran once? And how many people didn't run at all? Yep. And, uh, the, the results were, um, lacking. Lacking. I think is the best way to put it. I mean, if you want to confine it to, to the one side of the team, Yeah. We were, what? One third. One third. Five out of fifteen. Five out of fifteen? Right. So five out of, well, No. Four, four out of fifteen. Oh, because we were five out of 21 and one of those, one of those was a boy. Okay, so tragically just one of those was a boy. Right. So, you know, basically 30% of, 25 to 30% of the team actually did what we asked them to do. And, I mean, even sort of that, because even the people that said, yes, I ran, some of that was, I ran for 20 minutes. Right. And so they didn't do the full, the full thing we told them to do. And while, while those actions. Might get them a little bit better. That's true, right? Cause like we always tell them running 20 minutes is better than running zero. Yes. Especially for our newer runners. Right. But understanding that the actions that you're taking are going to lead to these results. And if the result that you want is to make it to the state championships, then we need to align our action with those results. So, if only 30% of people are doing what they're supposed to do on the weekends, what are our chances of being able to hit the result that we want to hit? I think it's less than 30%. It's actually where the numbers play out. And so, we'll see. You know, we can explain these things to them, but ultimately, it's their choice. Right. I can't run the miles for them. Man, I wish I could run the miles for them sometimes. We can't And them in the races, right? Like as much as we cheer and yell for them, we can't actually make them push themselves harder. Nope. It's, that's all up to them. And so the more I think that we can create ownership in them for their results, that The better I hope, you know, it will be, but I think it's important for us to understand that as runners as well as as real life runners, like we're not on a high school cross country team, but we all of us are individually, individually responsible for the results that we have. I just want to add one little thing in there, where we covered that some of the kids did the work, but they didn't do all of the work, and that 20 minutes out of the goal of 45 minutes is better than nothing. That's sometimes difficult for some people. If they can't hit exactly what the plan says, they just go for nothing. And that's where I was at this morning. I overslept this morning, but I went in and I got in some miles rather than no miles, because I wasn't sure I was going to be able to run at all this afternoon. So, sometimes, some... Work heading in the right general direction is actually the best course of action. Yeah, and I actually just wrote, read an article about this and like this all or nothing mentality that a lot of people have and how. You know, people have a goal, say to, I'm gonna walk 10, 000 steps a day, and they decide that they failed at their goal because they only averaged 9, 500. Yeah. Right? Like, and so technically, did you achieve that goal? No. But are you way ahead of where you were when you started? Probably. Probably. Right? And so it's really important for us to definitely keep that in perspective as well. So that moves us on to part number three. So now we know that our actions create results. Inaction also creates results. So,

Angie: 27:34

how do we actually do the things and take the actions that we want to take, or that we need to take in order to get the results that we want?

Kevin: 27:42

Because,

Angie: 27:44

and this is where it comes back to our thoughts. We have to start with our thoughts. Because a lot of people think that it's only about the actions. And so they get very frustrated when they can't do the things that they want to do. They're like, I just don't understand why I'm not... Running consistently. Why am I not doing this? What's getting in my way? And so many people then point to motivation. They think it's all about motivation or they think it's all about a magic training plan or something like that. When we have to take it back even further and understand that our thoughts are what drive our actions. So our thoughts create feelings, our feelings drive our actions, and then our actions give us the results that we have in our life. And so... So going back to this idea of motivation, motivation is a feeling and a lot of runners are like, if I just had more motivation, then I would do the things which may or may not be true because feelings like any feeling happy, sad, you know, mad, angry, glad, whatever it is. They're fleeting. They come and they go. And motivation is also a feeling. And some people. Some of you will disagree with me on this. I've heard some motivational speakers out there say that motivation is an action, motivation is not actually a feeling. So there's a lot of different ways that you can define motivation, but for all intents and purposes, for this example, we're going to call it a feeling. So, how do you actually generate the feeling of motivation? The answer is with your thoughts. What is it that you're thinking? That is causing you to feel motivated. A lot of people think that, you know, listening to motivational music or watching a motivational speech or having a friend that's, that's there with them that, that will give them motivation, but it's really all about the thoughts that they're thinking that's creating that feeling of motivation within them.

Kevin: 29:28

Yeah. I mean, it really. It comes back to where your brain is on this. It doesn't matter how inspiring the music is, if you don't want to go out for a run, when you get the fire up music, or you watch the inspirational video, and you're like, you might kind of want to go for a run, but three minutes into it, you're not going to be enjoying it.

Angie: 29:47

Like, you're like, I got myself out here, but I, I had to force myself out the door. Sometimes. You force yourself out the door and it does like the action itself feeds back and gets you going. But

Kevin: 29:59

every once in a while, if you are just forcing the motivation to get yourself out there, it's, you've got to go to before that and actually get yourself. Thinking, I really do want to do this. The desire that can, to have that consistency going to your thoughts about the goal that you ultimately have will lead to those positive thoughts that creates the motivation without having to have all of this exterior stuff, creating the, uh, the inspiration there.

Angie: 30:26

Right. And I also look at motivation is not a sustainable emotion. Like instead of motivation, let's look at something like consistency, or let's look at a feeling that we want of, you know. I mean, a consistency I think is a feeling or like determination, right? Like I'm just, I'm determined that I'm going to do it or I've, I'm resolved, right?

Kevin: 30:45

I've just decided this is how, this is what's going to happen. Right. So, okay. So that the thoughts, feelings, actions, results, that's a framework that's out there in, in many different forms. Um, There's other people out there that say the opposite. There's a lot of people out there that talk about outworking your self doubt, right? So

Angie: 31:04

it's not our feelings that create our actions, our actions create our feelings. So even if you're doubting yourself, even if you think you can't achieve this, do the things, and then you'll start believing. You'll start having that feeling of motivation or belief, right? And I even say, like, to this, yes, okay, it's true, but these actions Of being able to actually start doing the work still come from a thought.

Kevin: 31:30

So maybe that thought is I can do this or I can prove myself wrong. Or if I do this, then I will believe in myself, right? So there's some sort of thought that's generating some feeling for you to actually get started. And this is where it gets kind of tricky because some people say feelings create actions, create results. And some people say actions create your feelings, but it's all a loop. It's definitely all a loop. And so you're. Let's go with the, you know, what we talked about for your thoughts, create your feelings, which drive your actions, which then give you the results that you have, then you have results. It's not like it just ends there because then your results generate your next thought. So if you come up with this idea of like, okay, I want to start running more consistently. I want to, you know, I want to run a half marathon. Okay, great. What's A small result that you can create today or this week to help give you better thoughts about what you're capable of, right? Going back to passive action versus massive action. Like, what's something small that you can do to then start generating that feeling of belief in yourself or motivation or progress, right? Like, you can feel like I'm making, or the thought, it's actually, the thought is I'm making progress, which would lead to the feeling of, what? Satisfaction. Satisfaction. That's a good feeling. Yeah. Or, you know, self belief. Um, there's lots of different ways that we can kind of break this down, but. When we understand that it's really our thoughts that are driving these actions, then we have the power to look at our thoughts. So if your thoughts are dirty and they are like, I can't do this. I don't really believe that this is possible for me. Maybe they're conscious thoughts, maybe they're unconscious thoughts, right? But we can start to take a look because it makes sense that if you have an underlying thought or belief of I'm not really a runner or I'm not a real runner or I don't really believe I'm capable of this then If that's the thought that's driving your actions, then it makes sense that you're not consistent. It makes sense that you're not signing up for the race because you don't really believe that you can do it. So let's take a look at some of those thoughts so that you can start taking more actions. You can start choosing different thoughts that will drive actions that will get you the results that you actually want. Right. And these don't have to be huge, enormous thoughts that create giant steps. Right. Like you're saying, what is a small result? A small result varies from person to person. Like maybe you're running consistently. like four days a week and you're doing five miles, but you'd like to run a half marathon. Your small step is starting to stretch your five miler into a six and then maybe to a seven. And you're like, oh, but I, I, my knees start hurting when I get to five. Maybe your small step is adding in strength training. Okay. Or maybe you're at a completely different level. Maybe you're just really hit or miss. Some days you'll go out for a run of 20, 30 minutes, but often you'll be like, uh, I'm busy and it gets pushed back. And then it's another day that you didn't go for a run and then it's another day. So maybe your small step is simply saying, I'm going to be able to get out the door on a more consistent basis. I'm 10 minutes and maintain a consistency. So that I, that my small step is, I, I have the thought that I can get out the door five days out of the week. Right. Or even three. Yep. Right? Like depending on where you are right now. And, and I think that's the really important thing is, you said, I'm going to go out and run for ten minutes. It doesn't have to be thirty minutes, sixty minutes, five miles. Like I think that a lot of times we make up these arbitrary numbers in our head. And we say, If it's not that it's not worth it or if it's not that it's not good enough and just like you said with your example this morning you didn't wake up in time to get in the miles that you had planned but you still got in something and so your thought is something is better than nothing I'm going to do what I'm capable of right and like what what what feeling did that lead to you I mean, that led to me not climbing back into bed, that led to me having enough motivation, if you will, to actually get out the door, to finish getting dressed and get out the door. And then I got dressed and I realized that the house key was inside of our bedroom and I was going to have to open the door to you still sleeping and try and get the house key so I could actually head out the door get it? Yeah. Oh, I know. I don't think you, I don't think I noticed. Oh, I went ninja style to get back in and get the house key so I get out there. But like there were things stacked against me. I had overslept and then I had to get my shoes and your car's in the garage. I had to climb around the car to get my shoes. There was a few things against me, but I was like, I'm going to get out the door today. I'm getting in a run this morning. That's what's going to happen, right? And so when that's your thought is I'm getting in a run this morning. It doesn't matter how many obstacles pop up. In your way. But the way I phrased it, I, I did not put a mileage in it. I didn't put a time in it. Right. It was I'm gonna get a run in mm-hmm. so I had to take care of some of these obstacles. Right. And then whatever time it was when I headed out, that was going to then affect how far I went. Mm-hmm. but it wasn't, well, I have to get in at least five. I have to get in at least four. I have to, it was, I'm gonna get a run in. Let's get myself together as quick as I possibly can and out the door and then check my watch before I take off and we'll figure out which loop I'm going on that I can get back and get to school on time. Right. So think about, you know, whatever result it is that you want in your running or in. Any area of your life, right? Because everything that we talk about on this podcast, pretty much can be applied to any area of your life.

Angie: 37:06

What is one small result that you would like to have? And what is an action that you can take to get there today or this week, right? And think about something small. Think about what is the smallest action I can take. So if we're talking about running consistency, What if you just start putting your clothes out every night? Yeah, right. Like I'm going to commit to putting my clothes out every single night and I'm going to call that a win, right? Or three days a week, four days a week, whatever it might be. I'm going to call that a win. And then if I also wake up and put them on and get out the door, that's a bonus, right? But when you start to stack these small actions, these small habits because on, on themselves. When you perform small actions regularly, they are much more sustainable, and they lead to big results. We, as humans, Often want to do the big needle moving things, right? We want to go out and we want to knock out our 10 mile run because that will show us that I'm capable of running a half marathon, right? But you know what else will show you that? Getting out the door to run three days a week, four days a week, five days a week, building up the consistency for the number of runs that you're doing, adding strength training into your routine so that when you build up the mileage, Your knee doesn't start to act up. Yep, right adding strength training into your routine Even if it's one exercise, right like literally add in calf raises today when you're washing dishes or brushing your teeth, right? Add in 30 calf raises and be like this is me Preparing for that half marathon. This is me preparing for Blank goal. Insert whatever goal is important to you. You know, I want to be running when I'm 65. Yeah, doing this action is preparing me for that. It's preparing me to hit the things and get the results that are important to me. So what is something small that you can add in? Yeah, the small steps that create the big thing.

Kevin: 39:01

I don't want to pick on our cross country team too much, but there's a kid on the team, particular kid on the team. After we do so many workouts, so many races, different things. He comes in, he goes, coach, When are we going to be able to run like six miles, seven miles? Like I sent you on a four miler and you cut it short and ran three. And I sent you on another four miler and you cut it short and ran two. So I'm not sure when we're going to be able to do six. But in his head, six sounds cool. Seven sounds cool. But we can't just do seven because we're currently at three. Yeah. So. And we don't want to break you. We need to make these incremental steps. And eventually you make the incremental steps and you're doing the big cool things. But you have to get there with small steps. And the small steps don't seem as exciting. But when you can realize that it's the small steps continuously compounding over and over that get you the giant results. That's, that's when you, you are able to have that consistency because you're like, Oh, it's the consistency that actually leads to the big win. And that's when you start winning. Yeah, that's when you start seeing the results. And that's also what leads to a more sustainable relationship with running.

Angie: 40:07

A lot of times people jump in and they want to do these big things and they end up broken or burnt out in the process. But when we take the small steps. And allow ourselves to build up, especially for those of us that are in our forties or fifties or sixties, doing the big things is not going to give us the results that we want anymore. We need to take it a little bit more slowly. That doesn't mean that you can't get there, right? And I think that that's the hardest part is like being patient, trusting the process, allowing yourself to, to believe that doing these small things will lead me to the results that I want.

Kevin: 40:40

Yes, but the small things, the small things don't seem super cool. As you're doing them, but then you look back over the small things that you've done for the last three months, six months, twelve months, and you're like, wow, I did all these small things and now look at this huge thing that I'm able to do. Well, it's like, I like to think about that, like marriage, right? Like, think about, Like, being romantic or marriage, like, there is the sweeping grand gestures that people have, right? Of like, homecoming, like, well, this is not marriage, obviously, but like, uh, proposals, right? Sure. Like a sweeping grand proposal with all the candles and the this and the that, right? And then there's also, or the gifts, like a husband that comes home with like a huge gift for his wife, right? There are those big things. You can't do those every day, right? And then there's also the little things, like the fact that you do dishes, the fact that you get me water before bed every night, and you bring water and make sure that I have a fresh water on my nightstand. You know, like, the tiny little things, that's what builds a strong relationship. It's sustainable and long lasting marriage. It's, it's those little daily things that you and I do with each other. It's, it's you giving me a kiss before you leave for work every single day. Like, it's those small things. It's not, I don't know the last time you bought me like a huge gift, right? Like, it's, it's I have not put a car in the driveway with one of those giant bows on top of it. But like, our marriage is so strong and I I mean, there's no doubt in my mind about that. It doesn't matter that you didn't buy me new diamond earrings, you know, um, for our 10th wedding anniversary. It's the little things that matter more than anything. And it's the same thing in running and really the rest of our lives. So. Hopefully that gave you guys something good to think about, and I would love for you to reach out and let me know on Instagram or Facebook, wherever you like to follow us, and let me know what is a small action that you're going to commit to, that you're going to take to get the results that you want. And if you haven't yet, quick reminder, If you found this episode helpful, share it on social media, okay? Again, whatever platform you like, we are there at Real Life Runners, and make sure you share it and tag us in your posts so that we can say thank you for helping to spread the word and share the podcast. Excellent. Excellent message. All right, guys. As always, thank you for joining us. This has been the Real Life Runners podcast episode number 322. Now get out there and run your life.