Are you in the messy middle?

Back in 2021 I completed an Ironman triathlon

Widely regarded as one of the toughest one day endurance events that an individual can

take part in….

Not bad considering I couldn't swim 18 months before it, taking a taxi was always preferred

to walking or running and riding a bike was something last done as a child…

I learnt a lot during the event and the training process

A lot about my self and about setting goals, committing to them and executing them

Hence I thought I would try and share a few of those lessons here

And how they relate to any endeavour we pursue, fitness, business, personal, finance

This is especially key to remember, when we are chasing a long term goal or dream - in this

example, 6 months of training and 14 hours of racing, or, for example, building a property

portfolio that we may not fully see the benefit of for many years

With these long term dreams, it can become easy to come off course, lose focus

Back to the story;

There were heaps and heaps of lessons and take aways from the 6 month process of

training at 15 or so hours a week

One of my favourites was the process of setting goals, staying the course and achieving

them

Every goal, or process, or journey has a beginning, middle and end

Whether this is for a 6 month training plan, an individual training session or for the race

days itself, or even the individual components, swim, bike and run

Applied to business it can be a business goal, hiring a new member of staff, planning a new

product launch, starting a new business, or moving overseas and starting a new job in a

new country

We are full of energy and motivation at the start - full of optimism and vigour

We have heaps of focus and motivation the end - we can see the finish line in sight, the

hard work behind us and the reward for all of our effort approaching fast

The bit I want to talk about is the ‘messy middle’...

This is where most people fail, or give up, they are too far from the end to see a clear end

and the initial energy and enthusiasm has been replaced by hard work, monotony and

discipline

For me this was most apparent on the final marathon stage of the event, on the 42km run

The first 10km was ‘easy’ or even enjoyable (and very slow), it was a pleasure to be doing

something new and to be off the bike after 7 hours, the last 10k was slower, and more

painful than the first, but still ‘easy’ as there was under an hour to go and the end was in

sight

The messy middle is where it was tough.

The 22kms of running in the dark (the sun had set by this time), on my own, pain, cramp, no

crowds to give you energy and no sign of the finish line

This is the point where it would have been easy to pack it in.

What can we do when we are in the messy middle? How can we push through?

Remind yourself of your overall goal (completing an ironman in 14hours).

Remind yourself of why you are doing it (to raise money for a cause close to my heart)

Think of the people that are relying on you or that have invested time in your journey and to

get you to this point (loved ones, friends, coaches)

Try and ‘sit in’ the moment.

Don’t think about the end, or what has been, just enjoy exactly where you are…. You hard

work has put you there, and its your reward to enjoy that exact moment - the messy

middle.

If your at the end of a big goal, well done, if your at the start, or in the messy middle, and

need a hand, give me a shout

The below was taken at the end, crossing the line… a few seconds before a very big cry!

Thanks,

Callum