When you fail to hit your goal, it gives you a chance to reflect on that identity.

Did you become a writer? a runner? Did you become a better professional? A better athlete?

If yes, the expand the timeline. If no, find a better goal.

15 years of marriage later, I know that moving 3,500 miles across the country for her was the best decision I ever made.

So who's in your corner? For me: my wife, my parents, my friends (Ben, Dustin, Danny, Matt). How about you?

It wasn't until I discovered that perseverance is never done alone that I started getting breakthroughs. Every acheivement takes a team of people believing in you when you don't believe in yourself.

Because failures are inevitable. But you're only a failure if (the people around you let) you quit.

Am I becoming someone who shows up consistently, who chases after what's important to him with pasion and persistence?

Because identity matters more than the results. (The results matter too!)

And yet, I have one thing I never had when I was 17. The strategic grit to keep going even when it feels crazy.

Don't limit yourself. Get strategic.

Result? Cut my 5K time from 30+ minutes to 25:47.

Still 5+ minutes from my sub-20 goal, but the progress is real. Now it's time to get feedback and make adjustments.