My Mental Hack for Doing Things I Don’t Want To Do

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

If you’re alive and breathing and living on planet Earth, you might have to do some stuff, sometimes, that you don’t want to do. Go to work. Visit the dentist. Mow the lawn. Attend a family reunion. Write a paper. Do the laundry. Establish a will. Save money. Pay rent. Get your oil changed. Unclog the shower drain.

When I was a kid, my favorite thing to do was read. At one point in middle school, I checked a new book out of the library every day and read it that night. But I always made a deal with myself; I had to finish my homework first. Something about delaying gratification made sinking my teeth into a new book that much more satisfying. I applied the same logic to running and racing; if I suffer a bit now, the payoff will be that much sweeter.

My hack is this: think about tomorrow, or an hour from now, or ten minutes from now if you have to.

Last fall I ran the Mogollon Monster, a very tough 100 mile race out near Pine, AZ. At mile 60, I sat at an aid station, staring down the long barrel of a dark and lonely nighttime. I didn’t want to run into the night, and I tried to think my way out of my mental funk. I signed up for this, I told myself, I paid money to run through the night. In a lot of ways, I was lucky to even be there…