Like It's Your Job

A job worth doing is a job worth doing well.

Last night I read a blog post that got me thinking a lot about what training is for me.  I'm not an elite runner.  I don't get paid to do this.  I'm not anywhere near being an olympic qualifier. I'm no longer running and racing for a college team.  It isn't my job.  But I find myself training like its my job sometimes.  I find myself getting so wrapped up in my training and goals and it becomes so important to me that I can lose sight of the big goal ahead when things get hard. Like so many others, I get discouraged when I hit roadblocks like injury, lags in energy, and just forgetting WHY I'm doing all of this.  After all, running isn't my job. Or is it? 


What's a Job Anyway?  
I suppose the traditional definition of a job would be something that we get paid to do. A regular form of employment.  Something we do as a way to provide for our lifestyle or part of our regular living.  We get something from it in return for our work.  Some of us love our job and some of us hate it.  Some have a job because they want a job and some have a job because they need it to live.  No matter what, those of us that are successful in life, take our jobs pretty seriously.  We commit to it.  And the people that are good at their job, do it with a great attitude and work ethic.  They bring their "A" game to what they do.  These are the kind of people that go far with their jobs.  The kind of people that go FAR with LIFE! The kind of people that make something with what they have.  


Getting past the roadblocks.
I have to admit that I've been feeling slightly discouraged about my training the past few days. My abdominal strain has been a road block in this long marathon road and it has been several weeks now where I just haven't felt the "groove". My body just isn't moving like it should. I've felt lost with my training and desperately wishing that I had a coach to just do the "thinking work" for me and help me get to the end. The end result of all this training seems so far away and I've found myself making deals with myself to just settle for getting to Boston instead of truly training for a personal record or anything out of my comfort zone.  I've wanted to "play it safe" and stop taking things so seriously. And I've found myself with a head full of self doubt and negatively tainted perceptions. Most of all, I've been questioning all the time and energy I put into this training.  Reading, logging, researching, strength work, diligence with nutrition, and so much more.  Hours and hours of mental and physical work.  Although most days, my training is fun and I feel positively driven and focused on the goal at hand, I've recently been asking myself "Why?".  Why am I doing all of this?  It isn't my JOB!  I'm not getting paid to do all of this. And what is the point anyway? 


Perhaps it is my job.  Or I should think of it as such.
After reading Meg's Suck It Up and Get It Done rant last night, I woke up realizing that, right now, Training is my job!  If it is worth doing (which it is) then it is worth doing well and treating it like it is my job. Not my main job by any means.  In fact, not even in the top of my priorities.  But still a job of sorts. A job I enjoy. I may not be an Olympic qualifier or a labeled "elite" runner.  I may not be breaking any records or winning many races.  But when I do train like it is my job...with enthusiasm, hard work, dedication, a positive attitude, a proactive approach...I DO GET PAID!  When I bring my "A" game to my training in the same way that I have always brought to anything that I do...undergraduate and graduate school, teaching, being a mother, friendships, high school and college track and cross country...I am paid in SUCCESS.  My Success.  Feelings of accomplishment and pride.  Seeing how far that I have come.  


We all train for different reasons.  In a sense, training does become a job if we take it seriously.  And it should. It doesn't matter if you're a 10 minute per mile pace or a 6 min per mile pace.  What matters is that you are training hard and "working" to be the best that you can be.  If a goal matters to you and If you really want to achieve greatness and conquer your goals, You HAVE to treat your training like its a job.  It doesn't have to be a full-time job or one of those jobs that we dread.  Hopefully it will be a JOYFUL job most of the time.  A job we look forward to putting time into.  A job that we benefit from.  A job we are fortunate enough to have!  And a job that PAYS in more ways than one.  


So, I'm choosing to shake off this discouragement that I've been feeling lately.  I'm choosing to think of it as just another bump in the road.  And I'm choosing to take my training and healing seriously...like its my JOB (second to motherhood of course)!  As with all the jobs I have had in life, I will choose to give my "A" game, not settle for what just "gets me there", and strive to be extraordinary.  My extraordinary.  I will be my own best self.  And look how I will get paid to do it:

• Energy and feelings of accomplishment
• A happy disposition that benefits my family
• A great body and health
• Modeling a goal driven life for my children
• Brooks sponsorship 
• The joy and satisfaction that comes from reaching a personal goal or knowing that I pushed myself hard
• Great SLEEP from pushing my body
• Endorphins=happy pills
• Inspiration

So, Let's DO THIS!  Anything worth doing, is worth doing well, right? Like it's your job. A Joyful job that you love. A job worth getting up for. 


I'm adding this comment after this post was published.  Thank you Annette@(Running) in the Right Direction!  You seem to get exactly what I'm saying:

"I love the post. I took that you meant job as something that you care a lot about, put effort into...take time with. It takes work. Work=job. The only thing is so many equate the word job something you HAVE to do..and don't particulary WANT to do. I like your theories...doing a job you love! Isn't that what we are all searching for? Now if we could all be the elite, get all those perks you wrote AND get paid...that would be ideal!!!!"

 How do you get PAID to train hard and work towards your goals?  

Amanda