“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” —Theodore Roosevelt

Mondays arrive fast and furious. Not with the same veracity as when punching a proverbial time clock but all the same — the day feels different. Today I returned — unmasked to my local YMCA. This is the place where I brought my kids when they were babies, enrolled them in swim classes, signed them up for daycare, snuck out to classes when I was working on my postgraduate academic degree, and until the facility was moved a few blocks, even played racquetball.

Parking was expensive at the nearby UNC campus and I viewed it as one payment — two objectives.

Before today, I tried a few times to get back into the pre-covid mindset. I also convinced myself that I certainly had the tools to work on pull-ups and leg strength at home even if I lacked the will. For a time, they had swim sign-ups to guarantee single lane swimming although I knew it wasn’t likely to catch covid in a highly chlorinated pool. I enjoyed the swimming as it also introduced me to my newly repaired heart valve and the beauty of fully oxygenated blood. Who knew?

When you reach a certain age everything has the capacity to teach a lesson. Today I learned that you should not listen to what everyone else is doing or what they tell you from their self appointed pulpits of authority.

Your path to success is your own to modify and adjust. Waking up and deciding today was the day to walk back into the gym—my decision.

Even how you define success is spectacularly subjective. I made a few decisions just for myself about a year or two ago. Friendships of convenience ran out their utility. My goals were professional and personal. I realized running was the thing that brings all the attributes I value in my professional work into clearer focus. There is the discipline of course. Discipline is how you fuel your body, prioritize restful sleep, restrict alcohol and show up on the trail.

Running has 3 main focuses for me. Duration, intensity, and speed. Not that different from completing a collaboration, writing a book, or preparing a presentation.

It is up to you how you prioritize them and what mix works for your special little self.