“Every journey begins with a single step. We just have to have patience.”
– Milly Thompson
Welcome to February’s You Have Impact email and blog.
Thanks for being you, thanks for being a runner, past or present!
You're part of an amazing community; even if you haven't run for a while, you have still had an impact on yourself and others. Get up, get out there, make your world better.
If you can handle reading for 3 minutes and can appreciate a little motivation, please scroll on; this is written for the runners, walkers, doers, and thinkers. If not, please unsusbcribe, we've still got mad respect for you.
Yes to you! Thanks for being a legend.
The happiness business; impacting your real world, away from social media.
It’s here for you, to make you smile, motivate you to exercise, to help you feel better about yourself, and to show that You Have Impact on everything… 💪
Three core attributes to an impactful life (and to help with your running):
Be Patient
Be Present
Be Deliberate
How do they work?
Hard tasks are too much for me, too much for most people in fact. Kids don’t want to do homework, and most adults cant be bothered to start a difficult work or running project. That’s OK to admit.
It’s not that we don't want to achieve it, but we are scared of how hard it’s going to be.
Just like running or the gym - we don't go because we’re fearful of the pain. But, if the goal is worthwhile, then the pain of a hard task NEVER outweighs the benefits of doing it.
The only difference between crap, average, or great is in getting it done.
There’s a huge gap between people that want it to happen, and the people that are willing to go through the process to make it happen. Fear stops most of us from doing it. It’s all in our heads.
You, your kids, your friends, you all can make it happen, whatever ‘it’ means for you. Just flippin' start.
The art of having an impact - be patient, be present, and be deliberate.
Let us take writing the email as an example; I am scared of how hard it’s going to be, not because of typing, or even thinking, but scared that it needs to be good enough to send to you.
At this point, I am still not inspired enough to create beautiful, impactful writing, but I will follow the process and just keep at it. I have to wait for great work to be built, but my behaviour whilst I’m waiting is the key.
That’s Patience.
If I trust that there is a system to achieve something, I just need to start and keep going. Have patience that it will be crap at first, have patience that I am feeling flat, but that’s OK, as long as I keep going, I will eventually find a few words of brilliance that will in turn inspire me to push on further, even if it takes me multiple visits or days to complete.
Still, I am not yet fully engaged, I am being dsttracted by easier thoughts - football, sex, TV, anything but the mentally tough task of writing something good. So I have to keep bringing myself back to the screen, focusing on one word at a time, trying to find greater meaning in each letter typed.
That’s Presence.
By only seeing what’s in front of me; the one small thing I can do right now, I am present in the moment. Then there is no worry about the past or concern for the outcome and future. I am fully within the here and now.
Lastly, even with patience and presence, words can still drift along without meaning. I now need to ensure there is an intent to each sentence, a purpose greater than me that drives the topic. This is the easy part - we know anything written on You Have Impact must have the intent of motivating someone to be healthier, happier, or to help you think about what’s important.
That's being Deliberate!
Every action and word has an impact. Do not waste what we have to offer on vanilla bullshit with no goal, our time is too important. It’s better to say less if you have no value to bring. Wait, be patient, show presence, and then be deliberate with all that you do.
One step at a time.
If you want to be a runner, writer, or mathematician, you can be. But take your time, focus on each step or breathe, always drive towards your goal, no matter how old, tired, young or dumb you are, it’s easy with one foot in front of the other.
To be happy and healthy, enjoy the moment, then the outcome will always take care of itself.
Every. Word. Matters.
Just like every conversation and action you have, the purpose is to be kinder, stronger, and to have more courage. But how the heck is an email or blog supposed to achieve that? We are still working that out, so please help if and when you can.
Let us know what we can do to make it better, share with us.. What are the writings that will help you get out of bed with more happiness? This is about you; how we help you (and everyone else) be better, whatever that means for you today, tomorrow, and forever.
“There are no regrets. If one can be proud of one’s life, one should not wish for another chance.”
- Saber
Impact, Patience, and Running…
In getting over ourselves, we realise that everything good takes time.
For me and running, I’d love to be smashing 5k PBs again, but the reality is I’m a 43-year-old idiot that doesn't train hard enough to lose the excess weight, let alone be race fit against a 30-year-old me.
Digging deep into the reality of that shows that I do not want it enough. It’s not that I don't have time, or my knees and back hurts, or my focus is on my kids - it’s the fact that I do not see it as my goal in life. It is not the priority, therefore it does not get the patience, presence or intent it maybe deserves.
That’s probably because I’m getting my happiness from other areas of life - kids football, kids kickboxing, writing books, building a business; me trying to have an impact on other people's lives.
It’s not that I have succeeded on these quests, but I am enjoying trying to work them out, so that provides a level of contentment I like.
However, even with all that, I know running has been a great friend to me over the years - it has picked me up when broken, pulled me through hell and over broken glass, it is the constant in life that’s helped find more joy, when most hope was lost.
Even when life is good, I know running will make it better. I ‘want’ to be a runner. It has to start with greater patience. The goal for running is not a 5k PB, the purpose is about having strength and clarity that running gives.
If I force that process four times a week, and add in the little extras over time; core work, leg work, cycling, hill sprints, push-ups, and even the dreaded stretching (fuck me, it’s been a while since I could touch those terrible toes!), then in six months I’ll be at another peak of fitness. Six months!!! Jeez, that’s a long way to go. If we look at it as an ending destination, it’s a damn long road.
But if we can learn to enjoy patience and the small victories that give us - getting a little better each day without picking up injuries - then it doesn't matter how long it takes, because the six-month level of fitness isn't the objective. The aim is just to improve, every day, in one small way to get better.
You will always be content and healthy if you are making the most of each moment as they come. Patience is the best medicine for all troubles, injuries and stress. Patience is the only path to growth without breaking.
Patience finds the answer…
This email and blog took three days to complete, the majority was written in a morning on session one, where at the end, I didn't think the content was any good. I went for a run, and spent another hour on it that afternoon. It started to feel better. The next day, I came back to it, changed a few words, but did not improve it. On day three, I re-structured the whole thing, added key impactful statements, and gave a final edit.
It's not the masterpiece we all want to read, but patience gave me the chance to make it a little better. I am thankful for that, and extremely grateful for anyone that actually reads this. Is it better to be born with patience, or to be given the opportunities to develop your patience?
Let us know your views and stories, we’d love to write about you and what patience has meant for your world, or simply tell us how we can make this content better still.
“Human beings are strong because we can change ourselves.”
- Saitama
Impact, Patience, and Running…
The Impact of a Running Streak. A friend of mine deserves a mention here, let’s call him ‘King Kai’.
King Kai is a wonderful man, he's a very good listener, incredibly smart and articulate, tells terrible jokes, but most of all he’s a good friend that helps even before he’s asked. He is one-in-a-million for sure, a lovable big oaf.
2 years ago, King Kai was also very overweight, tightly wound, and not quite the best version of himself. One day, he got himself into a spot of road rage, where the opposing driver called him a “Fat, Self-Absorbed ***t”.
On reflection, King Kai did not entirely disagree with the abuse 🤣. That evening, he decided to change himself, so he started running.
934 days later, he has lost 4 stone, and is on course to reach his 1,000th day of running in a row. He has run every day, whether ill, injured or tired.
It’s been a crazy journey that has inspired me to do more running; he pushed me to do my own streak of 250 days last year. I am thankful for King Kai, he does not know how much of an inspiration he is. Not bad for a fat self-absorbed ***t.
From all of his days, he’s hated 10 of the runs - that’s just 1%. All but 2 days have been running on his own - that’s a lot of time to learn about yourself, reflect, and problem solve. The average pace has quickened slowly, from 9:30 minute miles, to 8:40 minute miles, averaging 5 miles a day.
This is how to do it!!!
Still, after all that, King Kai refuses to call himself a runner, but rather sees himself as someone that runs. He is wrong, penfold is 100% a runner, more so than most of us.
He is happier, has more energy, has enough mind-space to be kinder and more compassionate than ever before. No one can call him fat anymore, although he can still be tightly wound (running can't fix everything!).
You have to be a gritty fucker to acheive this kind of streak, but here’s 10 other tricks that have helped him…
Guide to a Running Streak.
Don't have an end in mind - be patient and just enjoy the streak
Remember the minute you don't run, the counter resets to zero
Vary it - run every street in your area
Get it done early in the day, then you’re free
Plan ahead
Find a way when it feels impossible and people question your sanity - this is for you, no one else
Spend the time learning from podcasts, but don't listen to them every time
Set targets and challenges, month to month, distance times, run length and so on…
Keep buying fresh trainers - it’s amazing how a new pair can motivate you!
Enjoy talking about it - bore the non-runners, get guidance from other runners
You do not have to reach 1000 days to make patience worthwhile. Just go about your business, make a start, push through one day at a time, whether that's running, eating well, or just being a better person.
Get it done, be like King Kai; the now Slim, Self-Aware Gent.
“Don't be too impatient to put yourself in danger. “
Ragnar Lothbrok, the warrior viking, that put himself in many wars 🤨
TV Show - Vikings
Actor - Travis Fimmel.
Yes, we know, Vikings has zero to do with Anime, but it's the best TV or movie quote about patience we found. Plus it's an awesome show, well worth a watch. Each month, we'll pick a creative theme plus a movie, song, show, book or philosopher, that match how we’re feeling about life. Anime is bright, fun, adventurous, and Vikings is savage. We’ll take that combination for now.
That's a wrap for today 🤘.
Remember, You Have Impact is not on social media and does not advertise.
The purpose is simple - to help us all have more impact on what matters.
Thanks for reading; without you, there’s not as much greatness spread around the world 🙏.
Until next time, your faithful servant,
Samson Hopes of You Have Impact.
A total dimwit, surviving on moments of luck. A happy but befuddled friend, dad, and husband. A tired, anxious, middle-aged, and searching man. An adventurer, dreamer, and philosopher of sorts. A frustrated introvert, writing memoirs about an extroverted life.
Motivation | Health | Thought | Improvement
Forward this email to anyone you know that would like a smile. Help create motivation for life, love, running, and making more from our time. Remember, you have impact, so don't be a di*k.
We are here to help you and yours - this is our only goal.
Keep smiling, and get out there to run!
Motivation & Inspiration
“You’ve got two legs and a heartbeat. What’s stopping you?”
Inuyasha from Inuyasha
Today is the day to start or take the next leap forward. Putting this sh*t off for tomorrow does not work. Today's running start: 15 squats and get your trainers on .You got this!
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