A while ago I heard a guy* share a story of how he and his daughter were running a marathon together. And as they were struggling along in the latter part of the race, his daughter raised a question that many of us would have probably asked in that situation.  She said,  **“_Why again are we doing this?”_**

The question was a fair one. Running a marathon, from what I hear, can be grueling, even painful, and most people don’t go through something like that without a reason. Some may run for fitness; others for the sake of competition; still others may say it’s because they find it enjoyable. But in this story, the answer was something different. His response was simply:

“Because we’re teaching ourselves not to quit.”

###

There are two things I take away from what he said. First, knowing your ‘why’ is an important part in sticking with anything, especially when it gets difficult.

If his response had been, “You know… I have no idea why I’m putting myself through this,” how much easier would it have been for him to quit? Because when things get difficult, and we don’t have a compelling reason to keep going, most of us will eventually just throw in the towel.

His response also reminded me that the things we do today can profoundly affect other areas of our life—even if they are seemingly unrelated.

In this case, he was focused on finishing the race because he saw it as a chance to practice going through hardship, and to not give up. Whether it be in relationships, business, or any other endeavor, this ability to keep going is valuable. And this race provided a practical way to continue to develop this characteristic.

Long distance running is not the only way to do this, and I’m certainly not recommending that we all go out and run a marathon to teach ourselves this kind of lesson. But I do think it’s important to remember that what we do today can have far reaching effects.

Some people, for instance, talk about the lessons they learned playing sports when they were younger: things like teamwork and discipline. And although learning these lessons may not have been the reason they were playing at the time, that doesn’t diminish the reality that the lessons they learned, and the discipline they practiced, had an impact.

###

So the questions to consider are, What characteristics do you want to develop in your life? And, What are some ways you can practice them today?

For the guy in the story, his goal was to develop perseverance. And he saw the demands of the race as a chance to help him grow in that area. For you, it may be something completely different.

But once you know what area you want to grow in, the next step is to identify ways to practice moving in that direction. They may be in areas that seem unrelated on the surface, but as long as they require you to practice the characteristics you want to grow in, they’ll work.

For this guy, strapping on his shoes and going for a run, was the practice he chose to use. What will it be for you?

_* I have not yet been able to track down the original source I heard, so the details of the story are as I remember hearing them. If I do find the source, I’ll be sure to update the post._