A letter from Chris Suarez

I Love That Pain In My Side

I went out for my long weekend run this morning at 6:00am. At exactly 6:04am I began to feel a pain in my side. I thought to myself, “man, there is no way I’m going to get through these 15 miles if I’m hurting already.” Naturally the thoughts of the marathon a couple months away crept into my mind while I continued to run through the pain.  

What if I am just not prepared to run the 26.2 miles? 

What if I don’t hit my target time goal?

What if I have to walk some of it?

What if I was too optimistic?

You know. All the typical doubt that shows up when the least bit of pain, or the smallest crack in your confidence shows up. But as I turned up my music - yes, it was country music - and focused  in on the run ahead, I realized that none of that mattered.

The win of the marathon isn’t the instagram photo of the medal after the race. The win isn’t finishing the race with a certain time or in a certain place. The win isn’t even crossing the finish line at all.  If you do any marathon or Ironman training for the sole purpose of saying you did it, you will be disappointed.  You cross the finish line.  You get your medal. You receive a high of self-accomplishment. And then it’s over. That isn’t the win.  

The win is the process of getting to the marathon. The win is the process of preparing myself physically and mentally for the marathon. The winning is learning about myself and my capability. The winning is showing up for myself even on mornings that I’d rather show up for no one. So regardless of outcome, if I am connected to the win of the process, then I am winning.  

Any marathon we choose in life takes a process, and that is because most everything in life is a marathon. Relationships and marriages are marathons. Building a business is a marathon. Taking care of our health is a marathon. Building wealth is a marathon.  

Of course, we’d all like to imagine those things as sprints. Or better yet, walks. But they all take a process. They all take training. They all take time.  They all take finding the wins along the way. If I waited to my finish line - the day of my death - to truly see my children as a win or feel that I had won as a father, then I would never get to that day. I would give up. In fact, I’d give up the first day that they were a pain in my side. But just like training for a marathon, I know if I keep running, if I keep training, if I keep committed to the process, that pain will subside. 

A quick understanding of what causes that pain in your side will set a good rhythm for us in life or business.  

That pain in your side when you run usually stems from either weak core muscles or not warming up properly before heading out. Ok. You can do something about both of those things on your path to the marathon.

The pain in your side when you run can come from eating meals too high in fat content or beverages too high in sugar - think soda and alcohol. Ok.  You can do something about both of those things.

The pain in your side when you run often shows up because you are taking very shallow chest breaths, not allowing your lungs to deliver oxygen to your body properly. This adds stress to your muscles and ligaments around your diaphragm. OK. You can do something about that with focused breathing and exercises.  

You can warm up. You can start slow. You can focus on your core. You can eat right. You can breathe properly.

Look at what it takes to avoid that pain in your side in a physical marathon. Those same strategies can work for life’s everyday marathons we are involved in. Those five steps will prepare us for the business marathon we are presented with.  

Warm Up. Take the time to learn the skills you need right now. Stretch your ability in what you say, how you say it, when you say it. No one will finish a marathon without first warming up.

Start Slow. Don’t try to summit the mountain or hit top speed on day one. Instead of committing to 100 calls, commit to 50. Instead of committing to 4 closings this month, commit to two.

Focus on your core. Make the main thing the main thing. When we constantly focus on the most important things, the core of our business, we wont be distracted by the pains in our side.  

Eat right. Food is fuel. Focus on your energy while playing the long term game. Putting in fifteen hours days every day isn’t going to get you across the finish line. It will get you burned out and on the side of the road.

Breathe properly. In any long term game it’s important to take moments, step back, review what you’ve done and where you’ve been, and confirm you are headed in the right direction at the right speed. Taking a breath with white space or a pause in your routine will help us get to the finish line of the business marathon.

So learn to love the pain in your side. It is part of the process - which is the real win of any marathon. 

Chris