Running is an individual (but sometimes partnered) sport based on speed, strength, stamina and most often high levels of determination. Although not for everyone, running is a hobby or even addiction that many of the worlds successful people take part in.
Inventor of the hugely successful Dyson vacuum, James Dyson has previously told FT’s weekend magazine that he’d “think nothing of a 6-mile run before breakfast”. And James isn’t the only one, with the well known UK singer Ellie Goulding consistently making it clear of her joys and addiction to running, even posting the following video about it for Nike’s #LetsTurnItUp event.
And so, it’s clear that there must be some reasons to run and many connections between running and success. So why do they run and why should you run to? Read on to find out my five reasons to run for success!
Run for Success: My 5 Reasons to Run
Fitness
The most obvious and many would say biggest benefit and reason to run is for fitness. Running is a great way to improve and hold your fitness, while strengthening and working your most important and used muscles and organs. But not only does running improve your physical fitness and well-being but also in turn your mental well-being (which plays a big part in a persons chances of success) through the feel good feeling that fitness gives you and the boost you get at the end of your run.
Relaxation
“How can you possibly relax running?” you might say, well you can. Running relaxes and calms the mind as you focus on your short term goal and clear the mind of past and future issues. Through this clearing and relaxation of the mind that running brings, our next benefit and reason to run appears.
Evaluation & Planning
Having cleared the mind of the past, running allows you to evaluate with a clear mind, free of the small issues and demands of the moment. With a clear mind and evaluated situation, you’ll be able to successfully think and plan for the future… coming out with the best ideas for the future with yourself and your goals.
Drive & Focus
Nurturing a burning drive and focus to achieve, this is one of my biggest reasons to run. Not only does running spark an addictive focus and drive in me to take on the distance measured challenge ahead, but in terms of long term life success too. I always feel it nurtures my mindset in the bigger scheme of life, inspiring and nurturing the same levels of focus and drive when I come across other challenges in my life, thus assisting me in my abilities to achieve.
Achievement
As Ellie Goulding says in Music Runs Ellie for Nike, “The kind of feeling that you get when you finish a run is like nothing else, and I just wanna keep having that high, keep feeling that high, because it’s better then any other high I’ve experienced.” And this is the exactly the reason why many run. In the short term, the feeling of achievement is a great high but for me the bigger picture of the the achievement means more.
Achieving at the end of a very intensely focused and driven run, can do nothing but inspire achievement and success in the rest of my life. Following on from how running nurtures my mind to be driven and focused in the real world, I feel the achievement at the end of my runs does so to. The journey of focus, determination and hard work ending in achievement is a short term story, but one that I also feel reflects general success in life to.
