You Can Do It

You’ve signed up for a 5K race but are just at the beginning of your running journey. After a lot self-reflection, you realize it’s time to sit down and start writing that book. Many people have thanked you for your advice and help, and encouraged you to start your own business. Now you know it’s time to take the leap. In all those endeavours, there’s still doubt about whether you’re good enough or worthy enough. Let me tell you this: you can do it.

You’re Not Crazy

After signing up for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2019, I panicked. Who did I think I was to run 42.2K (26.1 mi)? The longest distance I’d run up to that point was a half-marathon, and I wasn’t convinced that I had it in me to run a full marathon. I had a training plan, which I followed. I eliminated foods that had the potential to derail me. While I thought I was doing things right, I still had doubts.

There were some people who told me that I was crazy because they couldn’t imagine running that distance, or make the necessarily lifestyle changes that would allow them to succeed. I knew I wasn’t crazy—I was just willing to push myself beyond my limits. Despite the self-doubt and the naysayers, the lesson was clear: you must believe that you can do it. And it was that belief that propelled me across the finish line.

Your Change Story

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I’m on a change journey. Since the middle of April, I’ve been writing off the grid. No social media, and now I’ve reached a point where I’m also scaling back in other areas. I’ve blocked Outlook on my phone, restricted the use of streaming services during the hours I’m awake so I can’t be distracted, and at work I’ve distanced myself from toxic coworkers.

I know, and you know, that change is hard. There are days when I’m tired and I’m tempted to slide back into habits that don’t serve me or my purpose. Having shifted to working overnight, it seems like every day now I’m tempted to roll over and continue sleeping when I wake up. But if do that, then I don’t get in the writing time I’ve committed to, the gym workout or run might not happen, and then I’ll never move from where I am now to where I want to be. When we’re trying to change, and it’s hard, we must take Jim Rohn’s advice: “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.” Yes, you’ve got to believe that you can do it.

You Can Do It

From running a marathon to writing a novel to figuring out how I want my life to be different twelve months from now… Whatever the undertaking, you must believe that you can do it. But that belief is only half of the equation. Change requires action, and without action there can be no change. To finish the edit of my novel by 31 July 2024, for example, I need to write for one hour every day without distraction. That’s what I’ve committed to.

So, take the time to figure out what you need to do to achieve your goals. Believe that you can do it, and get to work.

And let me, then, leave you today with this last thought…

You are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And, best of all, you do not need anyone’s permission to be—unapologetically—who you are.