What Are You Waiting For?
You don't need a new year to cross a new starting line
I get it. It sounds so perfect. January 1st. Day One of a New Year. Kiss the past goodbye. Embrace the new you as you throw out that old calendar the car dealership sent you. (Which reminds me… where is the 2024 calendar?) This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. Start. Start again. Start over. Begin. Begin again. Begin over. Let’s go! What’s that you say? Wait? Wait? Wait for what? Oh, yeah… you got a point. It’s early December.
Well, we could start now. I mean why wait? Didn’t you hear yourself talk about all that badass stuff you were excited to work on and take on and turn on? It was you that used words like happier. Healthier. I’m almost positive you said holistic. Seriously. You did. Your eyes glazed over and you said it. No, I don’t know what it means either. Something about oats and honey and a mathematical formula you need to memorize so you can breathe on a run or something. I don’t really know. But I know what you’re trying to say.
You’re ready to live a better life. And you feel that taking better care of yourself is how you’re going to do it. I’m with you. I’m 100% with you. I just don’t know why you don’t want to start taking better care of yourself now. Do you even know why?
Okay. Let’s do this. Let’s just be honest about why we delay starting things that are good for us. And to make this even easier I’ll change “we” to “I”. Here are a ;ist of reasons why I delay starting things that I know are good for me to start and also know will lead me to a happier and healthier and more fulfilling life.
Not starting the thing seems easier
I convince myself that I deserve/want/need a little more time not doing the thing(s) that will help me be happier/healthier/more fulfilled
I’m terrified that I can’t go cold turkey when it comes to these big ass life changes that I’m about to make and easing into this brave new world I’m going to create makes the most sense.
Doing good shit seems hard. I mean let’s be real. This is basically a reworded version of #1. But depending on the angle you’re looking at this at… it feels different than #1. Yes., not starting the thing seem easy. But doing good shit seems hard.
Okay. I went. Your turn. Why do you wait to start something that’s good for you that you could start now but choose to start later even though you know that starting later doesn’t achieve anything other than delaying the goodness that comes from starting? The only valid answer I can come up with is that you needed to rest a little halfway through reading that last run-on sentence I wrote. Outside of my very suspect sentence constructions I can’t come up with any reasons that make sense.
I’m bringing all this up because it’s mid December and I know that many of you are waiting… for no good reason… to start running or start reading or start studying… or waiting to stop smoking or stop self-sabotaging or stop ruining perfectly good pizza by putting pineapple on it. You don’t need any more waiting in your life. You wait for customer service to take your call and you wait for the airline to finally call your boarding group and you wait for that guy with the mustache to self check out his 23 items at the grocery store when it’s painfully obvious that good manners would dictate that you should not self checkout if you have over 12 items. In my defense I can check out 23 items before most of you can check out 5. So chill out.
Okay. I feel better. And I hope if nothing else you now know that you don’t need to wait. You can start what you want to begin here and now. I’m not saying January 1st is too late to start. I’m just saying it’s later. And if you do start today… or tomorrow… let me know. Because I’m sick of waiting to cheer you on.
NXN WAS EPIC. DID YOU WATCH?
Okay, I gave you two weeks to catch up and watch the Nike Cross Nationals meet. Did you? Before you answer that and potentially exasperate me… below you will find the links to both the Girls Championship Race and the Boys Championship Race. After you watch the two races… answer the question… and make my day!
Watch the Nike Cross Nationals Girls Championship Race here.
Watch the Nike Cross Nationals Boys Championship Race here.
And thank you to Runnerspace for once again streaming NXN and making sure the coverage all weekend was as extraordinary as the event being covered.
Okay, now you can take the poll and answer the question
NXN COACHES CLINIC
I think I look happy. I’m speaking at the NXN (Nike Cross Nationals) Coaches Clinic. I’m surrounded by geeks and runnerds. My kind of people. I’m hanging out with a group of people that have dedicated a part of their life to helping young athletes be the best versions of themselves as those young athletes dedicate a part of their life to their teams and this sport of cross country. I’m talking to people that love the sport and more importantly love the people that take part in this sport.
I’m looking out at a group of people that have far more to teach me than I have to share with them. You know coaches need coaches too, right? Because we do. We need guidance. We need motivation. We need inspiration. We need each other. We need you. I look happy in this picture because I am happy. Happy and grateful to be a part of and not apart from this sport. So, thank you to all the coaches… and all the athletes… and thank you this sport for all that it has given me. I’ll do my best to return the favor. Besides, that’s what makes me happiest.
WATCH ME RAMBLE TALK AT THE NIKE COACHES CLINIC
Watch the video of me yapping away at the NXN Coaches Clinic here. It’s a good 45 minutes long… it was supposed to be more like 20 minutes. But too bad. If you mic me up then I’m going to open up. I love coach clinics. Not because everything I hear is great. Some of it’s not. But I love the exchange of ideas and the small talk amongst fellow runnerds. Anyway, hope you enjoy it.
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR…
BEST RUNNER EVER: WINTER EDITION
Looking for a fantastic gift for someone you care about… and I hope you know that list of people should include you… well look no further. Check out all the details for Best Runner Ever: Winter Edition. This 4 week program takes place this February and registration is OPEN. You’ll get 2 x week calls, access to the community online with spaces to celebrate your wins and yes, your failures too. You’ll be able to ask questions of both Coach Bennett’s. You even get a special Best Runner Ever t-shirt designed by yours truly. You may have heard the rumors about me basically being a t-shirt designing savant. Those rumors were started by me. But the rumors are also true! So, give yourself or someone you really like/love the gift of Best Runner Ever.
Here is the link again so you can read all about Best Runner Ever twice.
Hope to see you all in February. It’s going to be… the best.
FRESH COACH BENNETT’S PODCASTS READY FOR YOU TO EAT UP!
So many new episodes for you to listen to! Where to start? Up to you! Hope you enjoy them all and thank you ahead of time for listening and sharing and subscribing and rating and leaving glowing (but only if deserved) reviews.
Listen to the lates episodes of Coach Bennett’s Podcast on Spotify:
Maybe Apple Podcasts is your thing. Fantastic! Listen to all the latest and greatest Coach Bennett’s Podcasts on Apple here:
DID YOU KNOW I HAVE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL?
I do. I started it 15 years ago as a high school XC and T&F coach because I wanted to create videos for my athletes that excited them to be a part of this bad ass, kick ass and big ass sport. I wanted runners and this sport to be celebrated in a better way. I wanted these new runners to be able to see that they were a part of something extraordinary that had a history and heritage they could be proud of. I wanted them to be fans of the sport and in doing so realize that they were fans of themselves. I think it worked as the videos have been watched over 30,000,000 times. Check out the channel and all the videos here.
And in the meantime enjoy this video I made… I’m not kidding… 15 years ago!
THANK YOU FOR READING!
There is something about the end of the year that lends itself to giving thanks. Seems silly that something like where we fall on a calendar should be inspire whether or not we give thanks. I try to say thank you whenever it’s merited, needed, called for… and the end of a long newsletter fit’s all those bills if you ask me.
So, thank you for subscribing and for reading Coach Bennett’s Newsletter. Thank you for sharing it amongst family and friends and teammates. And if you are one of the paid supporters of this newsletter… thank you for that too. It helps. It really does.
Until next time… take care of yourself… take care of each other.
Cheers,
Coach Bennett
Thank you for reading all the way to the end!