I completed my first half marathon (21.1 kms!) a few weekends ago at the picturesque Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.  Very exciting!

Some time ago I blogged about “Doing what it Takes” to reach your goals using my marathon training experience as an analogy.

In summary – these where my super success principles:

1.  Set goals and tell others about them

2.  Learn from what others have done

3.  Recognise that there may well be sacrifices

4.  Create a plan and stick to it

5.  Avoid temptations that may derail us

6.  If the dream is big enough – the facts and the opinions of others don’t count.

Did these “Practical Success Principles” work?  Absolutely!

You see, I tripped and fell 7 weeks before the event and could not train again until 2 weeks out when the training program was all about tapering.  So I had a couple of 10km runs under my belt and that was that!

I received lots of advice – don’t do it, transfer into the 10km, you’ll do more damage if you run, have a drink and register for another run later in the year.  And I can assure you, I did consider all of these suggestions – and with varying degrees of seriousness, depending on the day.

But what made me do it?

1.  I had set a goal – 21kms not 10kms and I had told all and sundry that I was going to do it

2.  I read that if you can run 10kms you can run 21 – so I figured if someone else had done it so could I.

3.  I knew it was going to hurt and I knew my time would not be as planned, but I wanted that FINISHERS t-shirt

4.  My plan went out the window and a new plan around acupuncture, massage, chiropractic wizardry replaced it.

5.  I avoided most temptations – and the biggest one was opting out

6.  I did want to do this – it was a personal goal – I enjoy running and I challenged myself to be strong willed enough to face my fears and do it anyway. And looking bad was not an option!

It was all about being willing when I wasn’t willing and the 6 principles really did help.

I know that these success principles will work for any challenge or goal you may set yourself in life and in business.  There may be blocks that at first seem insurmountable and this is when the 6 principles are even more important.