408 Holly Worton ~ Start Where You Are

Transcript

Holly:  Hello adventurers and welcome to the Into the Woods podcast, episode 408. This is your host Holly Worton, and I am back with another solo episode. Today I am going to talk about something that popped into my head as an idea last Sunday when I was out on a run. I was running on this trail and, all of a sudden, this phrase came into my head: start from where you are. And I actually paused my run and set myself a note with these words, because I didn’t want to forget it and I knew it was something that I wanted to talk about on the podcast this week.

So, when I got home, and I googled it, I found this is, actually, a quote by Arthur Ashe: “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” And this was exactly the concept that I had in mind when the phrase popped into my head, so here is an episode on the topic.

So, in outdoors adventures, as in life, start from where you are, accept where you are, appreciate where you are. Start with who you are, start with what you have, start with how, start with your why and start now. So, let’s get started.

Start with where you are or start from where you are is an important concept, because I think a lot of times both in outdoors adventures and sports and life stuff and adventure stuff and business and goals and things, I think a lot of times, I myself at least, am so focussed on where I want to be and so frustrated that I am not there yet because things aren’t moving as fast as I want them to, I tend to get really frustrated with where I am. And I think, thankfully, that hasn’t stopped me from doing things but I think it does stop a lot of people from doing things, a lot of people get kind of paralysed and frozen and stuck because they are not where they want to be and they don’t like where they are and so they just don’t do anything – and this is very counterproductive because all we can do is start from where we are. And I was reminded of last year when I was feeling unwell from Lyme disease over the summer and I had no energy and could barely make my way up my stairs in my house without huffing and puffing, and so I wasn’t exercising, I wasn’t walking or running, I was just kind of resting and doing the bare minimum. And that was when my husband and I started watching these documentaries and YouTube videos about ultra runners and outdoor adventures, big outdoor adventures and that was when I was feeling kind of sorry for myself because I wasn’t feeling well and I couldn’t do the things that I wanted to do in the middle of summer when the weather was gorgeous and I was just really frustrated with where I was and dreaming about these amazing things that these people were doing and thinking, they can do all these amazing things but I can’t. And I wish I could run an ultra, but I don’t think I can and if I had let myself stick with that and not follow my dream because I thought I couldn’t do those things, then I never would have run longer distances, I never would have got to where I am today which is already running ultras a few months later. It is May, and I ran a marathon in February and in March and April I ran 50km and 55km and both of those are ultras, so I never would have gotten to here if I hadn’t started from where I was – and, by starting from where I was, I started from zero, I wasn’t doing anything. And once I felt well enough to get back into exercise, I just started running half-an-hour, which was kind of my bare minimum, I rarely run less than an hour now and that is a huge shift. So, start from where I was, which is zero and then I ran 30 minutes and then I just increased from there and little-by-little I increased my distances and week-by-week I was running longer distances and then I got from I am today, but I had to start from where I was, which at the time was zero: no time, no minutes, no running.

And in doing that I had to accept where I was, don’t wish you were somewhere else, because that won’t get you anywhere. Use that wish of, oh I wish I were there rather than here, I wish I were running ultras, or I wish I was making this amount of money in my business, or I wish I were doing this in my life – use that dream to get clear on where you want to be, but accept where you are, because if you don’t accept where you are then you are going block yourself from getting started and you are going to delude yourself into creating a viable plan to get to where you want to be. And appreciate where you are, and I think this is a really hard one for me, because I do still sometimes – much less than I used to – sometimes compare myself to others. And that’s really unproductive because you don’t know the other person’s backstory: you don’t know how they got to where they are; you don’t know what they did to get to where they are; you don’t know where they started. Comparing yourself to others – I have a whole podcast episode on this, which I will link to in the show notes, but it is just self-defeating.

So, appreciate where you are. When I went from zero to 30 minutes of running, I could do 30 minutes of running, that was do-able, some people can’t do that, some people can’t run at all, some run people can’t run more than 10 minutes or 15 minutes. I mean when I very first started running, back in my late 20s, I could barely run a couple of minutes at a time, I was so out of shape – I weighted less than I do now, but my physical fitness was terrible. So, appreciate where you are, even if you can run just two minutes or five minutes, or whatever it is that you do, appreciate that, that’s better than nothing and if you are starting from nothing at least you are alive and you can start from somewhere. So appreciate where you are, accept where you are and then start from where you are.

And I think it is important to start with who you are. And again, accept and appreciate who you are. I started with a really bad sports mindset, I had so many limiting beliefs that I have talked about here before, so many limiting beliefs, a lot of them from early childhood, a lot of them from my very first marathon that I ran 18 years ago, that I DNF’d, I had so many terrible limiting beliefs that were created, that made me think that I’m not good enough, my body isn’t good enough to do these things, I am not sporty, I am just not good. So, I had this really bad sports mindset, but I got started anyway, I started with who I was and then I worked on it, I upgraded my mindset. I worked with Jane Talbot, who was a guest on this podcast, she is a NLP practitioner, weirdly I was never a big fan of NLP, despite having trained in it and being a NLP practitioner, I never actually used that with clients, I never really resonated with NLP but something about Jane and the way she works with it was super effective for me and I got so much out of working with her and I only had a few sessions with her and it wasn’t even regular sessions it was like kind of on a ‘as needed’ basis but it absolutely changed my mindset. I went on that day that I had the marathon run wanting to quit, to the following month, when I ran the 50km never once thinking about quitting. It was massively life-changing for me and mindset changing for me.

So, start with who you are even if your mindset is crap, even if you have limiting beliefs, even if you don’t think that you are good enough, because all you can do is start with who you are now and do the work on your mindset with yourself or with someone else if you need to. And pay attention to your mindset as you go along because I think, when we embark on these journeys of adventure, of setting goals for ourselves, in sports and outdoor adventures and life, limiting beliefs come up, so pay attention any time your mind gremlins say: oh, you are not good enough to do that, you could never do that. Pay attention to that stuff and write it down and do the work on it – because as you grow and as you do more things and have bigger and bigger adventures more stuff is going to keep coming up.

Next, start with what you have. Don’t feel like you need professional kit, start with basic gear. When I started running, I didn’t have great running shoes, they were okay, but I have much better shoes now. I had a running vest which was cheap and not comfortable, and I didn’t know any better, but I didn’t need any better at the time, because I was getting started and I didn’t know how far I was going to go with this running. I started with cheap stuff and then once I got going and, once I started running longer distances, and once I started learning about my needs and watching the stuff that my husband was buying, because he was more advanced than I was, I started little-by-little upgrading my stuff. So, I bought better shoes, I bought a better running vest and that was a massive upgrade for me, I bought better sports bras, I just started little-by-little upgrading my stuff and there is still stuff that I want to upgrade. I just got a new running watch, as a very early birthday gift, because my birthday is in July, so it is quite early but it has been absolutely changing for my experience. I now have a heart rate chest strap which links to my watch, and it is helping me see more data about my runs which is helping me learn how I can improve things. And the reason why I got this super-early birthday present now is because I have got my first ultra, which is £100k, the first weekend in July and that is before my birthday. So, I got this now to start improving my training – but I started out with a Fitbit, and it was fine. You could start out with nothing, just a regular watch or your phone it is fine. Start with what you have got and then upgrade little by little, don’t think you need to spend a ton of money to get started, you absolutely do not. With my hiking stuff, the same thing: I started out with the basics and then little-by-little once I could afford better stuff, once I needed better stuff, once I learned that it would be useful to upgrade, I started upgrading and I have done that little by little by little. I haven’t gone out and bought tons of stuff in one month, so start with what you have and start with the basics.

Next start now, so if you have a dream, take the first step and don’t wait until things are perfect because things are never going to be perfect. So, you know, last year as I was just coming out of Lyme disease, I was feeling really…not great: I had really low energy for a few weeks, I had three weeks of nausea from taking the antibiotics and I didn’t feel great. I had this weird dream of running ultras and it made no sense and it made no sense to…I guess it did make sense because you have got to start somewhere! –  but it made no sense at the time for me to go from zero to ultra, but you don’t go from zero to ultra in a month, it has taken from August to March, it has taken me a few months. So, start with now, start from now. If you have a dream, take the first step now because things are never going to be perfect. I mean, I am super busy, things are always happening, I have always got my calendar full of stuff, there is never a perfect time to fit really long runs into my calendar, but I did because it was important to me.

And start with your why, I have a whole episode, 382, which I will link to in the show notes about knowing your why for your outdoor adventures and that is something that is really important, I think. It is something that has been really, really, important for me, knowing why I am doing these things I am doing, especially when it gets hard, especially when I am running, and it hurts, or I am tired, or I just feel like quitting; knowing why I am doing this makes all the difference. So, know why you are doing it, know why you have this dream, what do you think this dream is going to give you? What are these goals going to give you once you achieve them? And probably achieving your goals or starting on the path to your goals, it is probably going to give you so much more than you can even imagine right now but just think about why are you doing what you are doing, why you want to do these things?

And then start with how: start taking those steps from where you are to where you want to be, make a plan. I had a very haphazard plan with my running it is a miracle that I have gotten to where I am. I was only running I think three days a week and I had two shorter runs and one longer run and that longer run I just increased by 10% each week and did that week by week until I got to where I am. So, make a plan and write down the steps. I have written down the steps and rewritten the steps and replanned my plan so many times because it is changing as I go. I have simultaneously been training for long hikes and long runs and I have adjusted that as I have gone. And if it feels overwhelming, break it down into even smaller steps or change your deadline or your timeline. So, I did something a bit silly, I had a 50km race in. April that got cancelled and that was do0able and I have a 100k race in September, which is doable. But then I was invited to do a race in the first week of July and that’s a bit of a stretch, so it has really made me step up my training because I said yes to something that…it was a stretch. I am really looking forward to it, it is a beautiful trail, I have never done it before and I am really, really, looking forward to it. I am looking forward to the terrain, my husband signed up for the race as well so we are going to do it maybe together and we will see how it goes, but it is definitely a stretch. And there are so many reasons why I shouldn’t do it, because it is too soon, because the cut off time is a bit tight, I am not sure I can make it because it is during the summer (and I have said time and time again that I do not do long distance trails in the summer) – and here I am I am going to do all these things –  but that was my decision and it is a stretch. So sometimes if it feels overwhelming that is well, I don’t want to say good, but sometimes it feels like it is a stretch, and you need to reevaluate your plan to get to this stretch goal. But again, if it feels too overwhelming, break down the steps or change your deadline or timeline, if I were truly overwhelmed, I could cancel this event and just go straight to September and do my race in September which feels super comfortable. But I have reorganised my plan and I think I can do it. So we shall see, you will learn more about in July.

And get it in the calendar, time block it. I know I talk about time blocking all the time, but my training is all in my calendar because if I didn’t put it in my calendar, I wouldn’t get it done, especially with the longer runs because they take, obviously, more time and it is more time out of my work-day, and more time out of my relaxation day. So, I absolutely have to block this time out in my calendar to make sure it is done. Today, my husband and I are going out and he is going to help me doing sprints to try and figure out my maximum heart rate, because now that I have my super watch, I need to know what my maximum heart rate is so I can adjust the settings. I am really not looking forward to this but it is something that I have got to do if I have got to get the data correct and I am going to get help with it, so that is going to make it easier and here we are, but I am doing it because I blocked it out in the calendar. And tomorrow I have got a long run, which I have had to block out in the calendar and rearrange all my other stuff around it. So again, obviously you need to manage your life according to your own personal priorities, but if this goal, whatever it is, is a priority for you, block it out in the calendar and make sure that it happens. Especially when training for a big event, I absolutely have to plan it well in advance. From now, through to the date, because if I don’t I just don’t have the time in my calendar, because other stuff happens, life happens, stuff happens, and the calendar fills out but if I plan in advance I get the training into the calendar and I make sure it happens – it has to happen because it is in the calendar.

So, to recap: start from where you are and again this doesn’t just go for outdoors adventures and sports, it also goes for life: start from where you are; accept where you are; appreciate where you are. Start with who you are today because that’s enough and upgrade your mindset if needed. Start with what you have – you don’t need pro gear today, you can upgrade. Start now, start with the first step, no matter how tiny, because time is never going to be perfect. Start with your why, know your why: for your outdoor adventures, your sports goals, your life goals, your business goals. And start with how: make a plan and then time block the plan into your calendar and take the steps. And again, adjust as you go, I am all about pivoting and adjusting and changing as you go along, because the plan that you make from day one, will probably have to be adjusted for various reasons.

So, hope you found this useful, I would love to hear from you and see what your plans are, or your goals are, for either your outdoor adventures or whatever, whatever it is from that you can start from here, from where you are. Please drop me a line and let me know, or what you are planning, my email is [email protected] or you can find me online and get in touch there.

I also wanted to remind you to keep an eye for, later this month, May 28^th to 31^st, doing a free eBook promo with five other authors of hiking books and adventure books and we are all giving our books away for free as part of this promo. I am super excited about this, you will recognise some of these authors as we did a giveaway last year, some of us, but we have got some new authors in the mix, so I am really, really, looking forward to that. Wherever you are in the world, if you are in lockdown, or coming out of lockdown and you are feeling stuck and you haven’t travelled in a long time, these books will be the perfect solution for an armchair adventure, because you can read these books from wherever you are right now. So, I hope you keep an eye out for that, again it is May 28^th to 31^st, I will be publishing a post on my blog, I will be sharing about it on social media. One of the authors is Keith Foskett, or Fozzy, who was a guest on the show last week, in episode 407 and he is giving away one of his books. I have really, really, enjoyed his books on long distance walking in Spain and in the United State, he’s got some really great books; and you will also recognise Susan Jagannath, who has been on the show twice, and she is giving away one of her books, and anyway, I am super-excited. And I hope I can get some of the other authors on this podcast, they have all been invited but they are all super-busy this month, so it might be before the promotion, or it might be later on. But there have been a couple of them that I have been wanting to talk to for ages and get them on the show for you. So, that’s all about that.

Thank you so much for listening and if you enjoy this episode, please leave a quick review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts, it would really mean the world to me.

Next week’s episode: I think will be with the fabulous Suneet Kaur, she is in the calendar, and we are going to talk about all kind of plant-spirit land things and I super-excited to have her back on the show as well.

So, remember to visit: HollyWorton.com/408 for the show notes on this episode and also, if you have any ideas for people you would like to see on the show and topics that you would like to cover, please let me know. Again, that is [email protected] or find me online and get in touch there. Thank you so much and have a great week, happy trails!