6 Ways That Running Can Change Your Life

6 Ways That Running Can Change Your Life
Photo by Chander R / Unsplash

What if there was one thing that you could do that could change your life? Maybe you’re out of shape and don’t know where to begin. If you don’t know where to begin, I would recommend starting simple. If you haven’t run in years or ever in your entire life, starting as small as 10 minutes a day can make a big difference in your life.

Running has taught me many things in life. To begin, you need to start by building a foundation. That foundation needs to be laid out brick by brick. Possibly a single brick to your foundation is worth only 5 minutes of your time. If you start to accumulate thousands of those bricks, then you’re building a strong foundation.

The Goal Setting In Running Is Simple

The goal setting in running can be fairly simple if you’re not aiming to run competitively. If your goal is to run a 5K, the goal can be as simple as starting how to learn to run for 5 minutes without stopping. Then you set the goal to run for 6 minutes without stopping, then 7 minutes, then 8 minutes.

Learning how to chunk out bigger goals is what makes running life changing. When you learn how to break down goals to the smallest actionable step, you start to realize that you can accomplish so much more in your life. Once you open up your mind to the chance that the goal you are trying to achieve is possible, you will start to excel in life.

Once you break a goal down to the smallest denominator that you can accomplish today, you give yourself realtime feedback on what is possible. When you reach the point where you cannot accomplish the goal you set today, that gives you an opportunity to reorient yourself on how far away you are from the goal.

Shot made while filming for yesHEis project
Photo by Nik Shuliahin 💛💙 / Unsplash

The Mental Barriers You Break Are Transferrable

Imagine if you went from not being able to run a mile to running a marathon? How would you view yourself then? Imagine if you stayed up for 24 hours straight to run an ultra marathon?

Those moments that you experience are transferrable to your everyday life. All of a sudden, walking 2 miles to a gas station when your car breaks down won’t suck as much. Those workdays when you have to put in a 12-14 hour day to finish a project up won’t feel as challenging because you already have the confidence that you’ve put yourself through something far more challenging in your past.

Running Gives You A Sense Of Well Being

Almost every day that I go on a run is better than a day if I don’t run. The endorphins rush and sense of accomplishing something (even if it’s small) gives you a mental boost.

Running will give you an opportunity to take a mental break from the day. It will give you a moment when you have an opportunity to let your mind work in the background when it needs to.

Not only will you feel better after you run, you’ll want to continue to feel that way. You’ll start to make better food choices because you want your body to feel good.

Running Can Suck And That’s A Good Thing

There are tons of days that I have that I don’t want to go on a run, but I do it anyway. Many people have trouble grasping the concept of doing something that you don’t want to do. The truth is, we have things that we have to do every day that we don’t want to do. I would rather not cook meals for myself, run errands or even walk the dog, but I do it anyway because you have to do it to keep maintenance of your life.

Learning how to do something that you don’t want to do and embracing that friction is a critical life skill. The resistance is real, and learning to defeat the resistance that you face in your everyday life will make the friction that much less.

Running Can Be Whatever You Want It To Be

Running as a hobby can be fun. You can make it as challenging as you want it to be or as easy as you want it to be. Maybe your routine is just doing a basic 3-4 mile run daily or perhaps you want to challenge yourself more and do interval training? Running allows you to go with the flow on however you’re feeling that day, but also still gives you that feeling of accomplishment when you finish.

Photo by Capstone Events / Unsplash

You Will Become More In Tune With Your Body

Running has definitely helped me become far more in tuned with my body. I know the difference between feeling a little pain versus pushing through something that can lead to injury.

The more you learn to push your limits, the easier it becomes to move past your old limits. I used to think that running 10 miles would lead me to be absolutely exhausted for the rest of the day. I have since learned that it was a mental barrier that I had, and now I can run 10 miles without a problem.

Conclusion

I’m going to be a lifelong runner as long as my body allows for it. Even if my body eventually does break down, I will always do my best to find a way to get back out on the trails. Running has become a foundation of so many things in my life.

If you take up running, you don’t have to make your entire identity be that you’re a runner. You are, you, and there’s always an outlet for learning valuable life lessons. I find that running is a simple outlet that many can learn to enjoy once they get into it. There’s nothing like getting outside on a nice day and getting to see your entire area of town, or running without purpose next to a beautiful landscape.