In 2022, I decided to run 1,000 miles.
Prior to that year, my running had been haphazard, not ultra-committed. I ran and competed in some races, but never with concrete goals. The year before, I ran 365 miles and had dedicated much of the time to running with my daughter, Grace, who had enlisted in the U.S. Space Force and was prepping for Basic Training. When the last week of December 2021, the week of wondering, “What next?” rolled around, I had gotten used to consistent running and loved the challenge.
One run, a couple of days before January 1, I thought, “What if I ran the distance between my driveway in Nashville and my parents’ driveway in Minneapolis?” Those were the murky days of the pandemic, and part of me wanted to prove to myself that if everything fell apart, I could physically make it to my parents’ home.
That was the initial start of the 1,000-mile year.
Every goal, every dream, every challenge needs an initial start. Those “starts” always start with the “What if I … ?” kind of statement. We all have them, those kind of soul whispers. And we also all have the crossroad moment when we either dare to complete the question or push it out of our thoughts. That was the year I decided to make an audacious goal and keep it.
Starting goals can be easy. Completing goals can seem impossible.
2022 became the year I rewrote the impossible and made my “what if?” possible. As a result of this accomplishment, thousands have asked me to share what compelled me to make such an audacious goal, how I kept it up for the entire year, and what life lessons I uncovered. Honestly, there are so many lessons, but these three stand out the most:
1. Challenge your goal.
The distance between my driveway and my parents was 899 miles. By the end of February, I was ahead of my mileage schedule and sitting comfortably. My husband, Dan, asked me, “What if you ran 1,000 miles?” Initially, that seemed too big, too audacious. But then, I broke it down, and realized I only needed to run 3/10th of a mile more each day. That was doable. By challenging our goals, we see where we can stretch ourselves a bit more, and we can make the impossible possible.
2. Create accountability.
The moment you tell someone else your goal, that is the moment you put into action your accountability. Not only did my husband know mine (and was a massive encourager), but I also created personal accountability and public accountability. Personally, I recorded every mile in my journal and made a grid page where I colored in each mile that I ran (yes, a reward chart). I knew I didn’t want to get to the end of the year and look back at what I started, but didn’t finish. Publicly, at the end of every month I shared a post on Facebook with my friends and page (Finding Joy) where I documented how far I ran, shared a map of the total distance from my home, and shared insights. Just like I didn’t want to get to the end of the year with regret, I also didn’t want a friend messaging me saying, “Are you still doing your running thing?” That was a powerful motivator to stay on track.
3. Visualize the end.
Running (and life) can be hard. There were many days when the uncomfortable and the boredom and the daunting reality of hundreds of miles made me want to quit. I started challenging the thoughts of, “You should quit,” and I often realized it was just boredom or discomfort speaking. My antidote was to visualize myself running the last mile — into my parents’ driveway or across the finish line at my own. The visualization helped motivate me to keep on keeping on. Your future self needs your present self to visualize the dream. You are the only way to step into it.
When the year was done, I realized that I not only had completed an audacious goal, but within the process, I reignited my soul’s spark. I didn’t even know it was flickering, but as the miles added up, I was surprised to feel myself coming more and more alive again. It was the process of doing that opened my eyes to my dreams and hopes, and allowed me to realize I had the courage, bravery and commitment to follow through.
Do you know that the only way I finished that goal was in deciding that the small steps, the three miles here and five miles there, would eventually add up to the dream. You are worth those small steps in life too. Create the goal, take the steps, and get your spark back.
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