It’s not that I don’t want you to run. I don’t recommend it because you should find something that resonates with you. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with a little introduction.
So I’m the type of person who’d adopt a new habit, just because. No warning, no prep, and boom—suddenly I’m on a meditating streak.
That’s how I quit my one-pack-a-day smoking habit. I just decided I wanted to stop smoking. That’s how I turned vegetarian for a couple of years.
And as of 12 June 2024, I’ve officially run five kilometres a day, 167 days in a row. Some days I walked (pulled my back). Some days I ran circles in my room (COVID quarantine). But ever since I told myself I’d cover a certain amount of distance every day, I found myself unable to stop.
Do I want to run a marathon someday? Nope. Am I looking to lose weight? Never. So why the hell am I doing this?
That’s the question I ask myself every day. And my answer is always to lace up my shoes and walk out the door.
I wish I could give you a better idea of why, how, or what. Alas, I can’t. But let’s compromise and check out the lessons I’ve learned instead.
1. Everybody needs their own way of navigating the world
Some activities are so standardised that they work anywhere in the world. Some personal examples are jiu-jitsu and swing dancing.
You could practise for a few months, head off to a different country, find a local club, and continue where you left off. You don’t even need to speak the local language to communicate. Instead, you can express yourself with your slick, sweet moves.
When seen from that perspective, everything is a language. Take away the words and we’ll still be able to talk through a mutual understanding.
Chess, arcade games, sketching—you name it. Reach a certain level of competence and you’ll be able to communicate solely through your vocation.
And now I’ve added running to my roster of self-expression.
So while I lack in other areas like, say, holding conversations at a party or dunking a ball into a net, I can influence people through this new language.
Through running, I can show what it’s like to be consistent, endure discomfort, and keep my own promises.
I believe everybody deserves an equivalent art of expression, and it’s only through running that I began to look at our pursuits this way.
2. Happiness is not what you think it is
I like how Hormozi put it: “If happiness is your goal, then you’re doomed to be unhappy.”
Because that implies you’re not currently happy. And that also implies that happiness is a product you can buy off the shelf.
For me, the truest form of happiness comes from not seeking it out. Also, for the weirdest reason, my happiest moments are found on the other side of pain.
I don’t see happiness as an end goal, but rather as part of a bigger package. It’s like ordering a Happy Meal.
If discomfort is the fries, and happiness is everything else, then to avoid running would be to not have a Happy Meal at all, just because I dislike the fries. Plus, braving the things I don’t like earns me the occasional toy or two too.
3. It’s all a numbers game
If you asked me which session helped improve my time, I’d tell you to ask me about my deepest, darkest secrets. Because that’s easier to answer.
Was it the day I pushed for speed? Or when I ran double the distance? What about my slow days? Zone Two training is a thing, after all. Alas, I have no idea.
Just as in life, you’ll never really know which one action brought you to where you are today. Would you have grown taller if you played basketball as a kid? Would you have become a scientist had you paid more attention in physics class? Who knows?
All I know is that life is a game of averages. Or to use a different analogy, like the lint in your dryer.
The colour of the lint is the average sum of the clothes you put in. Can you pick a specific colour like you do with a hex code? No. But you could affect the general shade. More black clothes equal darker lint, for instance.
So on a micro level, running five kilometres won’t do much for me today. But on a grander scale, that action is pushing my lint towards a shade that I want.
4. Being consistent is the hard part
Pick one task. Any task. Make sure it benefits your life somehow. Maybe you’ll pick writing two hundred words. Or going for a walk around the block. Or drawing pentagrams with goat blood. Whatever.
Doing it once would probably feel easy. A week would take some effort. A month and it’ll start being tiresome. But a year? Two? That’s when you’re bound to tell yourself “Perhaps we should just take a break today” at least once.
Every time I mention my five-kilometre quest, people are quick to note how short of a distance it is. And I agree. Five kilometres is a starter distance, especially for me since I don’t take to running so easily.
But it’s the committing that’s the hard part. I’ve had life throw me all sorts of temptations to get me to stop—COVID, a pulled back, fourteen-hour shifts, vertigo, and rainstorms, to name a few. And this is excluding the general reluctance to work out.
Fortunately, I haven’t broken my promise to self yet. One day I’ll reach my limits, especially if those limits involve open heart surgery or a gruesome accident.
But until then, I’ll keep lacing up my shoes.
5. Your feelings don’t dictate your actions
If there’s one lesson I’ve learned through this journey—and if there’s one takeaway you leave with—it’s that the way I feel does not dictate how my day goes.
Most days, the last thing I feel like doing is running. Some days I don’t even feel like getting up. I’d function on only four hours of sleep, wade through a muck of deadlines, and still have a day’s worth of meetings to sit through.
But no matter how I felt, I still completed my five kilometres. To me, that might as well be a superpower.
I don’t need to feel motivated to do something. Especially if it’s something that benefits my life. I can set a goal for myself and know I’ll take the steps I need to get there. And the more I do it, the better I become at doing it.
So yes, while running may help with cardio or losing weight, it goes beyond the superficial. For me, it’s my way of learning more about myself, and I’ve only just begun.
Stay up to date with my running shenanigans on my IG Stories.
Stuart Danker 
I’d love to hear your thoughts!