Fear: The Friend You Ignore

2 years ago I ran my first 10-mile race in 95 minutes.

In two weeks I will attempt to run it in under 80 minutes.

This goal frightened me.

I could have gone for sub-90 minutes.

I knew this would not challenge me enough.

I knew I could skip a workout and still hit my goal.

I wanted to push my mind to its limits.

This goal made sure of it.

Even on days I didn’t feel like showing up.

Even when the weather was bad.

Even when my body wanted to rest.

Every uncomfortable session became training for more than the race.

It trained my discipline.

It trained my resilience.

It trained my ability to follow through.

The right goal should scare you.

But not so much that it paralyzes you.

Just enough to push you beyond what you think is possible.

Set a goal.

Sharpen it one step further.

Feel in your bones that it will demand all of you.

That is when you force yourself to develop a performance mindset.

You train skills that transfer to every goal — in training and in life.

And just like training, the newsletter now has a rhythm.

Every other week a deep dive.

In between, these shorter Stoic insights to keep momentum alive.

Until next week,

Paco Raven

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