Procrastination and cramming are something I’ve developed a knack for: it happens whenever I’ve got something unpleasant on my To Do list and I try to delay doing it for as long as I can, only to try to finish it at the last minute. This is kind of the relationship I have with vlogging right now.
It’s not as if I haven’t done this professionally. I did a few documentaries in the past for Living Asia Channel, but watching them again gives me an odd sensation of “Wow I actually wrote like this?”
I’ve definitely learned a lot since my first vlog and am developing my own editing style and voice, but producing my own vlogs is a lot of hard work (especially travel vlogs!) and so I frequently find myself putting off the editing until there is an urgent need for new content. It doesn’t help that I find watching myself weird.
But really, the only way out is to forge ahead and get it over with, because no amount of delaying will ever make the needed work go away. And the same thing goes for training. In fact, run and triathlon training taught me the importance of “just get on with it” even when you’re lazy or apprehensive, because no one else will do the work for you.
For many things in life, you can pay someone else to do the labor. It’s what our economy runs on. But that doesn’t hold true for running. Sure, having resources can help you pay the entry fees and acquire the right equipment and coaching, but everything else is all on you. It’s your responsibility to prepare yourself and get yourself across the finish line. So I take my hat off to cancer survivor Louie Sangalang finishing the Arctic Marathon as the lone Filipino, or Victor Consunji and Enrico Menichetti doing the 250-kilometer Marathon des Sables to benefit World Vision, and Milo Marathon king Joerge Andrade whipping Kenyan butt to win the Borneo Marathon.
The thing is, your goal doesn’t have to be as massive as winning a marathon or doing an extreme race. Getting yourself to start and finish a training session is already an achievement that only you can claim, and you’re the primary person who reaps its benefits.
So this is me basically saying just get off your ass and do the work. You’ll be proud of yourself for accomplishing it, and you’ll get something done.
Has always been an inspiration to runners…