Let me tell you a little story about a 5K race…

Several years ago my family decided to participate in a 5K race in my home town. My niece wanted to do it with us, so we brought her along.

I thought she was going to jog with me and my kids, but as soon as the the race started, she bolted to the front of the pack!

Imagine a blonde, 10 year-old girl version of this:

That's how she started the race.

She managed to keep that pace for about two blocks. When we caught up to her, she was stopped, leaning over to catch her breath, like she had just crossed the finish line of a 100-meter dash.

My niece is an athletic kid who tends to be good at any sport she tries. However, she had never run a 5K, and she didn’t understand the importance of pacing herself.

As a result, she fizzled out early.

Fortunately, she eventually got the pacing thing down, and today she's actually a great cross-country runner. (We still like to give her a hard time about her first distance race though.)

I share this story because I see so many people make the same mistake when trying to create a healthier lifestyle.

They don't set a sustainable pace. They go all-in and quickly burn out.

I’ve done this myself… many times. But eventually I realized that lifestyle change is a marathon, not a sprint. It's important to set a pace that you can sustain long-term.

The Balance of Challenging Yourself Yet Pacing Yourself

It's important to strike a balance between challenge and pace. On one hand, we need to challenge ourselves. We need to push ourselves outside of our comfort zone in order to see results.

On the other hand, we need to be able to stick with it until the end. When you do too much too fast, it's not sustainable. You’re far more likely to get discouraged and give up.

It’s common to go heavy on the challenge part, especially in the beginning. For many people, once they become motivated to make a change, they’re ready to give it their all. Motivation peaks lead to big (often unrealistic) goals.

Many people fail to recognize the value of pacing themselves. Pacing might seem like holding yourself back, which isn't very exciting or motivating. But it's important to understand that pacing is far from holding yourself back.

Pacing is about strategic self-preservation. It's what will keep you in the race until the end.

What would you rather do?

• Accomplish an important goal, even if it takes longer than expected, or

• Never accomplish the goal because you couldn't stick with it?

Pacing: Your Secret Weapon

I like to think about pacing as a secret weapon. If I set a goal, and later find myself unable to stick with the actions needed to achieve it, I don't need to beat myself up, nor do I need to give up on my goal altogether.

Instead, I simply need to rethink my pace. I can ask myself, "What is a smaller action I can take that will still lead me in the direction of my goal, even if it takes longer to get there?"

The time is going to pass regardless. We can spend that time consistently making progress toward our goals (even if the pace is slow), or we can make random, inconsistent sprints that quickly fizzle out and bring us right back to the starting line… over and over again.

How About You?

Ever find yourself in a pattern of going all-in with healthy lifestyle changes, then quickly burning out? If so, I encourage you to think of pacing as a secret weapon to long-term success.

Remember that small, consistent changes lead to BIG results over time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave a comment below!

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This post was originally published on 1/25/22.