Leadership Tip #19: Find Your Pace
Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year—and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade!
—Anthony Robbins
On Monday, I challenged us to both set our pace, and make sure we have the right support team around us. This is important not only in our positions of leadership, but also in every area of our lives. If we want to thrive in the long haul, both these pieces need to be in place.
Only, we can’t set our pace, until we find it.
When I began running outside, I used to always go with my husband, Tony. Having run track and cross country in High School, and being stronger physically, he runs at a decent pace. And I always tried to keep up. But it was never long before I found myself falling behind. His pace wasn’t sustainable for an asthmatic, beginner like me.
Eventually, we figured out it was better for us to run on our own, and meet back at the car when we were done. But even then, I struggled to know how fast to run. When I’d start out I’d take off like a short distance runner in a race, only to get winded far too early and have to stop. My breathing would get tight, and I’d have to walk until I could get air in my lungs again. Many times, I felt defeated and was tempted to give up.
Until, I realized that it didn’t matter how fast I ran, the point was for me to run. Running so fast that I couldn’t breath wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Finding my pace as a runner required both slowing down and learning better how to breath. In a world where it seems as if we’re always being told faster is better, this felt counterintuitive. But if I was ever going to run at a decent pace, I had to start at the pace I was capable of and work up.
As a leader who used to work in a fast pace job and led multiple teams of people at varying ages, I can tell you, we must always start where we are. Whether in life or positions of leadership, it can be so tempting to look at the people in the lane next to us and try to match their pace, or even outrun them. This only leads to us gasping for breath at the sidelines, too far from the finish line.
If we want to succeed as leaders, we must focus on the long game. The only way we will experience longterm success is to lead at a healthy pace. Don’t look at the other people around you or those online who seem to be doing bigger and better things. Don’t. You are not called to live and lead at their pace. You are called to find your pace, and do everything you can to sustain it.
Finding your pace will keep you from burning out too quickly. It will enable you to accomplish the dreams you carry in your heart. Only they many not necessarily happen in the timeframe you want. There may be times where you feel like me on the trail. Times where you feel you’re not moving fast enough. That you will never reach the goals before you. If this is where you are,
Be patient.
Remember to breathe.
The things you are working toward are too important to rush. So find your pace. The one that is going to enable you to go the distance. Then, keep running.
Have you found your pace?
Do you ever feel as if you’re not going fast enough?
Are you in the midst of making a hard decision? Contemplating a big life change? If so, you may be interested in my FREE Making Changes Checklist that I give to all my email friends. Want your free copy? subscribe here.
