It’s not a marathon: thriving amid change

After four years working in a startup, I’m beginning to find my stride.

Sprints

When I first started out, in year one, I would do sprints. I would bust my gut completing a project. For example, we’d build three new courses and then after it was done, I’d say ahhhh and feel a great sense of accomplishment. Are we at the finish line? Can we rest? No, not quite. While I was working on the first project, another was coming right up. Now we needed to develop a new grading system. And then it was another and another. I don’t know why I held the illusion for so long: I kept thinking that once we finished a particular sprint, then ‘things would settle down’.

Marathons

I needed to rethink my racing approach – was I expecting the finish too soon? I expanded my timeline. Now I thought about marathons – longer races with timelines of quarters and years. Maybe next year once we got these star initiatives in place, we’ll really conquer the work, we’ll have all the answers. I’d think to myself, ‘after all the good preparation and the hard work, we’d surely reach the finish line’ and our work would become predictable and consistent.

But we haven’t reached the finish line, not even close. In fact, we’ve started new businesses, developed new products, found new markets. Our business is growing and changing in all sorts of wonderful ways, and needs more attention than ever.

Today: Finding a Pace

Several months ago, my mindset shifted. I dropped the idea of a finish line. I’m not holding my breath for the last 100 meters to get to a ‘destination’. The business will keep evolving, the work will increase in complexity and I’m prepared for constant change, forever!

Today I run at a sustainable pace, 24 hours a day. As I run, I catch new ideas and change initiatives, nurture them for a couple hundred meters and then when they are strong enough, hand them over. Whether I’m holding many initiatives, or just one, I just remember to keep the pace.

Because there is no end, every day has to be a great day! So, I’m making sure the other parts of my life are working in harmony with the run. I take many water breaks so I don’t get dehydrated. I stretch my muscles and keep them strong. My family and friends are close by, and I feel them with me at every step.

And then a surprising outcome: As I run, I’ve started to revel in the scenery as it goes by and enjoy the people around me – something I couldn’t really do, when all I focused on was the finish line.