Encourage Others

The Lesson

Sometimes when the going gets tough, the tough just want to quit. At least that was the thought running through my mind last weekend as I was finishing the final two miles of a 10k. You see, I’ve been training for a marathon (my first marathon actually) and last weekend I decided to pack in a full day of racing to help me get some miles in—15 miles worth of racing to be exact. It started with a 10k in the morning followed by a 5k and 10k later that night.

By the time I got to the last two miles of the last 10k, I was spent. My legs were cramping and I was getting dehydrated. In fact, my normal pace had slowed dramatically and my stride had turned into baby steps. That was about the time when my mind spoke up: “You’ve already run more than 11 miles today, just drop out now.” “Hey, it’s okay to walk from here.” “You can’t do it.” “Stop.” “No one would fault you for quitting now.”

Apparently many of the spectators and fellow racers also knew what was going on because I started hearing people cheer me on. “Just two more miles, you can do it.” “Looking good, keep it up.” “Just a few more blocks.” “Don’t give up, you got this.” Their words of encouragement were just what I needed to keep pushing forward. Then, when I hit the last mile, another runner pulled up beside me, just as exhausted as I was and said, “Do you think we can pick off 10 people before the finish line?” Now at this point I was really hurting and my mind was still insisting that I drop out. But, I’ve always had a hard time turning down a challenge and without hesitation I replied, “I think we can pass a dozen.” “Let’s do it then,” he said.

So there we were. Two guys ready to give it our all for the last mile of the race. I wasn’t sure where the energy was going to come from, but I was ready to try. As we passed other runners, we heard, “Good job guys!” “Finish strong” “Way to go!”

My pace for that last mile was nearly a minute faster than my pace for the previous two miles and I know where I found the energy. It was in the words of encouragement that I was hearing all around me. We finally crossed the finish line, but we didn’t pass 12 people. We didn’t even pass 10. We passed eight. But that was eight more than I would have passed had my “encourager” not pulled up beside me and challenged me to go with him.

The Challenge

Your challenge this week is to sincerely encourage those around you. It could be your coworkers, your spouse, your customers, or just like in my case, someone you might not even know. Your encouragement could be just the thing that person needs to hear to reach the finish line. Your words might help them pick it up and finish strong. You might prevent them from giving up.

By encouraging others, you will ultimately encourage yourself. When you start making others feel good, you’ll start feeling good as a result. This week look for opportunities to provide encouragement to people in your life.

The Reflection

1. What did you learn about yourself this week as a result of completing this challenge?
2. How can you continue to benefit from this challenge in the future?
3. What was your biggest takeaway?
4. What positive changes could you make going forward in order to maximize the benefit of this challenge?
5. How would continual practice of this challenge change your life?

C’mon, you know you can do this! You’re almost there!

Gary Jensen
Editor | collector mentor