Hi there! I know you’re in the bustle of holiday stuff, but in case you’re also slightly peeking into 2024 and trying to figure out what you want to focus on, I have a little story for you.

It’s a story I’d forgotten about, but as I’m doing my own journaling and exploration about what I want 2024 to look like for me, this memory returned to me and I’m using it as a metaphor for how I’d like to approach next year.

I used to do a lot of racing like marathons and triathlons. When you do a race like that, you typically meter your effort. You don’t want to go out too fast because then you’ll run out of gas before you reach the finish line, but you don’t want to go too slow or else you won’t achieve your potential.

It’s a delicate balance between not going so hard that you “blow up” midway through and crawl across the finish line and also not holding back too much. 

In 2011, I had scheduled a 70.3 mile triathlon late in the racing season. In the months prior I’d had some successes and some mediocre performances. As my coach and I were preparing for this final race of the year he told me to do something radical…

He said, “Blaine, just go for it. Go as hard as you can from the start line. Let’s take this race as an experiment. You’ve never just gone all out before. Go as hard as you can until you can’t go an inch further. If you have to drop out of the race, that’s fine. We don’t know how fast and how far you can go because we’ve never tried it. This race will be an opportunity for you to learn about yourself.”

“WHAT? Are you kidding me? I’ll definitely crash and burn,” said I. But I knew I had to try it.

I firmly believe that if you can’t trust your coach and fully put yourself into their hands you shouldn’t hire one. So I agreed to do it.

Do you want to know what happened?

I won the race! 

(This is  me running almost at the finish line, with a woman trying to chase me down from behind)

I’m so happy I remembered that experience now, because I want to try it for 2024. I already have some vacation time planned and this isn’t about killing myself.  I want to hold the attitude that I’m going for it and I don’t care if I fail. It doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to learn about myself. 

Honestly, even thinking about it makes me feel free!

What are your plans for 2024? Are you going for it?

Let me know. That way I can cheer for you! 

There may or may not be a finish line, but the cheering section along the way always helps.