I was born and raised in Roseland, where my mother still resides. Upon visiting her last week, I was reminded that the annual “Run For The Roses 5K” is scheduled for this coming weekend, an event that I hold dear to my heart.

As a young girl, this was the very first race I attempted to run, and although I had to walk a good portion of it, I recall the encouragement I received from another runner that day.

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Last weekend, on a beautiful Spring Day, I stopped briefly to watch a scene unfold on a baseball diamond in the middle of Central Park. Two local teams faced off in a hotly contested Little League game (this is New York – everything is hotly contested!). 

As one young boy got up to bat, I noticed his father pacing nervously near the dugout, yelling out instructions. When he finally struck out, costing his team the game, the young boy threw his bat against the fence in a fit of pique, and stormed off the field. The father tried in vain to console him. “But I already told you,” the boy admonished his father, “I’m no good at this! Forget it. I can’t.” Now I’m sure this young boy was good at lots of things, but in this moment, he felt like a total failure.

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When I was a sophomore at Boston College, feeling lost in a sea of J.Crew-clad students and thrown off by a breakup with my first real boyfriend, I decided to take up running. Because I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like doing things by halves (or getting dumped, for that matter), I set a goal that would answer any lingering doubts I had about myself. I would do more than just start running. I’d take on the beast: the Boston Marathon.

The first time I went for a run, I could barely breathe. I’d never done track, never played a competitive sport, and almost didn’t make it to the end of the block. But I wanted desperately to do this, to do something extraordinary. So I just kept going out. And while I couldn’t make it around the block at first, the next time I’d get as far as the fire hydrant, then the tree. Little by little, I began to see hopeful signs. I started to think, maybe I can do this.

After months of hitting the pavement daily, plugging away even through bone-chilling Boston sleet and biting wind, I did complete that marathon. Sixteen years later, I’ve run more than 40 such races worldwide: New York, Chicago, Berlin, Stockholm, Dublin, and St. Louis, to name a few. The act of training for and running marathons has taught me so much about what it takes to set a goal, maintain focus, and follow through and I’ve drawn on these lessons countless times in all areas of life.

Now, in my work as a life and career coach, I help clients who, like me, struggle with finding motivation. And guess what? The marathon metaphor serves as a great teacher. You don’t have to run one to know what resistance feels like. No matter what your particular finish line, the lessons ring true. Try these strategies to help you meet your own goals in stride.

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There’s a joke told by Jerry Seinfeld which goes something like this: “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Wait a minute, death is number two? This means that to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy!”

Ever since reading about The TAI Group here in New York, I’ve been longing to take one of their courses in public speaking. Two weeks ago, I finally had that opportunity. The course I took is their popular 2-day foundation course, entitled “Communicating With Power And Presence.”

Truth be told, I’ve actually had some training. Unfortunately, most of it was in grammar school when I managed to maintain a strong presence on the Forensics Team. Since that time, speaking as a part of my job has forced me to confront some of my own issues. When called on to present, I sometimes find myself searching for excuses. But since one of my coaching values is to “stretch” – get beyond the comfort zone – I knew the time had come for me to really tackle this head on.  

Drawing upon roots in theater, psychology and leadership development, TAI teaches people how to properly engage an audience. Without an engaged audience, you are literally talking to yourself. First, let me say how much I enjoyed this workshop. It was challenging, experiential, humbling and…absolutely brilliant. For anyone who presents on a regular basis, this course should be mandatory. Hell, even if you never need to present, this would still be worth doing.

Gifford Booth, Director and Co-Founder of TAI, taught the class along with coach-in-training, Michael Filan. Both gentlemen were friendly and inviting. One of the things I loved was the democracy of it—there was no regard given to title or rank. Most in attendance were senior or C-level people, but in this little room for 2 days, we were just 9 people wanting to learn how to communicate more effectively. I came away with a whole arsenal of tools, some of which are worth sharing here.

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Along with a packed house, I recently had the privilege of hearing Peter Thum speak at Interesting Café, Clickable's monthly culture night. His work is a call to social activism - the idea that good business and good deeds need not be mutually exclusive. As the founder of Ethos Water, Peter Thum has generated over six million dollars to help a half-million people around the world get clean water, as well as hygiene and sanitation education. He first had the idea for Ethos in 2001 after working in South Africa, where he saw water issues firsthand. He saw hundreds of people who didn't have access to safe drinking water or sanitation services. In 2002, Peter decided to leave his comfort zone, then a strategy consulting job, to pursue his vision to address the world water crisis and help children get clean water.  Peter Thum (PT), led Ethos as its President from idea through to its acquisition by Starbucks in 2005.

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