Pace, Pressure, and Progress: Life and Business Lessons From a 10K
It’s never just about the run. Somewhere after mile 4, my head goes into a live seminar. This time it was on life and entrepreneurship. Every mile usually carries a message, and by the time I cross the finish line, I always realize that I’m not just training my legs, I’m training my mindset.
Here are some of the lesson highlighted from my most recent Turkey Trot Run.
Avoiding Over-Preparation and Paralysis
Before the race started, I was people-watching. My wife was running the Half Marathon (she’s the reason I do these runs) and my race started after hers. So I had a minute to reflect if I really wanted to do this. But since it wasn’t my first time running this, I recognized something: You can usually tell who’s done a few races and who’s brand new.
Some runners showed up with everything. Hydration packs, gels taped to their shirts, the newest shoes, sleeves, belts, gadgets. You could almost feel the nervous energy humming off them. It reminded me of what a “first business” often looks like in someone’s mind.
In the beginning, I used to think starting a business meant:
You needed a big loan.
You needed a “perfect” office.
You needed all the software, all the gear, all the branding dialed in.
In other words: heavily “over-prepared.”
What I’ve learned over the years is that over-preparation can just be fear dressed up as productivity. It feels like you’re moving, but you’re really just circling the start line. The same way some new runners overpack because they’re scared of being uncomfortable, many aspiring entrepreneurs load up on things they don’t actually need because they’re scared to start.
In running and in business, you need enough preparation to respect the challenge, but not so much that you never cross the line and get moving.
You don’t need the perfect setup to start. You need a decision, a basic plan, and the willingness to learn while you’re in motion.
Consistency Beats the Sprint
Out on the course, I noticed a pattern.
Every so often, someone would fly past me in a burst of speed. You could hear their breathing spike, see their stride get big and aggressive. Then, a mile or two later, I’d quietly pass them without changing my pace at all.
Same effort. Same rhythm. Same breathing.
I wasn’t suddenly “better.” I just wasn’t burning myself out in bursts.
That’s entrepreneurship.
Some people sprint with a flurry of ideas, late nights, and bursts of motivation. They crank out content for a week, overhaul their systems, make big promises… then disappear when the adrenaline wears off.
Meanwhile, the person who:
Shows up consistently
Keeps the same general pace
Doesn’t freak out when others “pass” them
…ends up further down the road than the sprinter who keeps needing to recover.
Consistency is not glamorous. It’s not loud. It doesn’t always look impressive in the moment. But over time, consistent effort quietly walks past the people who keep trying to win the race in one big push.
In a 10K and in business, the question isn’t:
“How fast can I go right now?”
It’s: “What pace can I actually sustain?”
Focus on the Next Step, Not the Entire Journey
There were a few moments during the race where, if I looked too far ahead, the course felt endless. You see the long road, the turns, the people way out in front, and your brain starts doing this thing:
“Man… I still have all that left?”
That’s the same feeling people get when they look at:
All the debt they want to pay off
All the weight they want to lose
All the work needed to build a business
All the healing their body still needs
When I caught myself thinking that way, I changed my focus.
Instead of staring at the far distance, I literally dropped my view and focused on the next few steps in front of me. One stride. Then another. Then another. I let the rhythm do the thinking.
By the time I allowed myself to look up again, I was closer than I expected. It didn’t feel dramatic. It just felt like, “Oh, we’re here now.”
In life and entrepreneurship, if you obsess over the whole mountain, it’s easy to feel like you’ll never make it. But if you narrow your focus to the next right step, movement becomes possible again.
Sometimes the most powerful question you can ask yourself is not “How am I going to get all the way there?”
It’s, “What’s the next honest step I can take today?”
Send one email.
Make one phone call.
Write one page.
Help one client.
You do that enough times, and one day you look up and realize:
You’re a lot further along than you thought.
Pace Yourself to Prevent Compensation
Around mile five and six, the therapist in me started to wake up.
I couldn’t help noticing how people’s bodies were changing as fatigue set in. Right feet and ankles started rolling outward. Knees shifted. Hips got a little lazy. Shoulders start to creep up. You could see compensation patterns kicking in.
The body was tired, so it started finding shortcuts. That’s what the nervous system does when it feels under-resourced: it finds a way to keep you moving, even if the pattern isn’t ideal.
The same thing happens in life and business. When we are:
Overworked
Under-recovered
Stressed out for too long
We start to “compensate.”
Maybe that shows up as snapping at people you love.
Maybe it’s scrolling late at night instead of resting.
Maybe it’s reaching for food, alcohol, or other habits to numb out.
Maybe it’s saying yes to work you don’t actually want to do, because you’re too exhausted to set boundaries.
Compensation is usually a sign that your system is tired, not that you’re broken.
On the course, the solution isn’t to completely stop and quit the race every time your body compensates. But it might mean easing your pace, paying attention to your form, breathing more intentionally, or training smarter next time.
In business, it’s similar. You don’t always need to burn everything down. You might just need to:
Adjust your workload
Raise your prices (know your value)
Say no more often
Protect your sleep
Get some support
Know your pace.
Respect your capacity.
If you ignore your “overpronation moments” in life, you eventually end up injured in more ways than one.
Support Systems and Mile Markers
One of my favorite parts of the race wasn’t even the running. It was the little voice in my ear from my app saying:
“One mile.”
“Two miles.”
“Three miles.”
Every time I heard that cue, it gave me a small boost.
Not because the app was special, but because it reminded me:
“You’re moving. You’re progressing. You’re not where you started.”
That’s what a good support system does.
Sometimes it’s your spouse reminding you how far you’ve come.
Sometimes it’s a friend who says, “You’re doing better than you think.”
Sometimes it’s a mentor, a coach, or even a past version of you that would be proud of where you are now.
In entrepreneurship especially, it’s easy to forget your mile markers. You’re so focused on what’s not done yet that you ignore the progress you’ve already made:
The skills you didn’t have three years ago
The patients or clients who trust you now
The problems you used to have that aren’t even a thing anymore
We all need some type of “audio app” in life and business. Something or someone that says,
“Hey, that’s mile three. You’re not at zero anymore.”
The key is not to rely only on self-talk 24/7. It’s powerful, but we’re human. We get tired. Having people and systems around you that reflect your progress back to you is fuel.
Beyond the Finishline
That 10K wasn’t just a race. It was a reminder that:
You don’t need every gadget or a massive loan to start. You need motion.
Consistent effort quietly beats loud spurts of energy.
Focusing on the next step keeps you from being overwhelmed by the whole road.
Pushing without awareness leads to compensation, in the body and in life.
The right support system and mile markers can carry you further than willpower alone.
You don’t have to be a runner to use these.
Maybe your “10K” right now is growing your business, rebuilding your health, healing from something hard, or trying to provide better for your family.
Whatever your race is, ask yourself:
Am I over-preparing instead of starting?
Am I trying to sprint what should be run at a steady pace?
Am I staring too far ahead and overwhelming myself?
Where am I compensating, and what does that say about my pace and recovery?
Who or what is reminding me how far I’ve already come?
If you treat your life and your work the way you’d treat a good 10K, you don’t have to “crush it” every day.
You just have to keep moving, one honest step at a time.
