Ragnar Relays are certainly my idea of a good time.

Picture six friends in one van for a day and a half. Excitement is in the air as we laugh and chat, as we challenge ourselves and cheer each other on. We share every bit of personal space and all the sweat and smells that come with it. We deal with the ups and downs that only reveal themselves when every one is sleep deprived, hangry, and drained from running three times over the span of the race.

Needless to say, there are a lot of stories to be shared from countless Ragnar experiences, many of which I’m sure will be shared in this space at one point or another.

One of those memories popped in to my mind during a recent “easy” run.

Once upon a Ragnar planning meeting, my team was choosing which segments each of us would be running, when a friendly argument broke out about the runs themselves, which were classified by Ragnar as easy, intermediate, or hard.

The problem: No one was really interested in doing the “easy” legs because we had a fairly competitive team; a bunch of show-offs really. 😉

However, a mentor of mine, Joel, had a different persepective:

“Just because a run is classified as easy, doesn’t mean you can’t push yourself and make it more challenging.”

Joel’s reflection resonated deeply with me. Not only did it change how I viewed running easy legs, but it also shifted how I looked at personal growth and business.

1. Just because it’s easy, doesn’t mean we should always treat it as so. If we’re not challenging ourselves, we’re not learning and growing.

2. Always choosing the same path, or doing the same things over and over again, doesn’t allow us to imagine or create new opportunities. It steals our ability to innovate and evolve.

3. Realizing, even if/when things are going well, there are ALWAYS improvements we can make to better ourselves, the people around us, and our current environments.

4. If we’re not looking at our worlds, our ideas, our businesses, our relationships, our problems and opportunities – at anything really, with new eyes and open-mind, it’s likely we may never find the things that make us intrinsically happy and fulfilled.

Questions We Can All Ask Ourselves

We don’t have to let another day go by without triggering some ideas and a call to action that can help create a better world for ourselves and others.

How can I think differently about ________________?

What is one thing I can do differently that can better ________________?

What is one thing I can do, right now, that can start me down this path?

Remember, one action leads to another. With enough completed actions, you have momentum.