Dreaming Beyond Your Comfort Zone

in

I re-listened to the Runner's World Show Podcast on Deena Kastor's Positivity Speech yesterday and was totally inspired. I was ALSO inspired yesterday when I listened to I'll Have Another with Lindsey Hein's Podcast interviewing Teal Burrell (Teal went from a 4:07 marathon to qualifying for the Olympic Trails with a 2:42 Marathon)- talk about dreaming big!

I started thinking about dreaming big (and not just kind-of big, but really really big) and how truly scary it is to think of the long road there may be to get to your goals (and how uncomfortable it could be). I like to set goals for myself and sometimes get only a fraction out of my comfort zone, but I'm not sure if I've ever really pushed myself way out of my comfort zone too much. I've hiked some pretty dangerous trails, sky dived, moved halfway across the country by myself, applied for jobs totally out of my league, but these all seem SO small compared to Teal's goals and Deena Kastor's amazing speech about positivity. 

I've also been thinking a lot about my recent race and what my goal for Las Vegas Marathon should be. I'm a huge believer in stepping stones towards a larger goal, so I wanted to utilize LV as a stepping stone towards my bigger goals (running a sub-4 hour marathon, qualifying for Boston, running a 1:45 half-marathon). I also know that I still struggle with pushing myself in a race beyond my comfort zone (getting comfortable with the uncomfortable)- I was SO close to the edge of breaking through this barrier at my recent race (progress, eh?), so I am determined to achieve that at my next race. 

Positivity and the ability to dream big really do go hand-in-hand.

You not only have to BELIEVE in yourself, but you also need to BELIEVE in your dream. 

Creating positive self-talk is really difficult and something that I don't always succeed at. I get down on myself (sometimes on crummy runs or sometimes when I have a set-back from one of my dream goals), which is pretty terrible and a total dream-crusher. So, I am determined to begin to re-work my thinking from negative to positive.

It's not going to happen overnight or 6 months from now and it will be challenging, but I believe it will be THE key to my success to reaching my dream-big goals. 

It'll start small from consciously trying to be aware of how I look at situations, view myself, view others, etc. and correct myself when I notice these negative behaviors creeping in. I will also list three things each day that I am thankful for. 

Here's to launching my #dreambeyondyourcomfortzone project! You can join along in my project and leave your #thankfulnotes in the comments, a journal, your blog, social media, etc. Share the positivity!

Thankful for today:

  1. A beautiful view out our deck
  2. Avocados and Over-Easy Eggs
  3. My Resiliency

What are you thankful for?

Any big race tips to stay positive and push outside your comfort zone?

What are some things that make your Dream Big list?