I recently read a great article in Women’s Health, one of my favorite magazines. I love the magazine because it’s a combination of wonderful articles on everything from nutrition and food, to exercise, skin, hair, make-up and clothing advice. They also have inspiring profiles of women, such as the article I just read about Joan Benoit Samuelson, the amazing female marathon runner.
For anyone not familiar with Joan, in 1984 (when she was 26 years old) she ran in the first women’s Olympic marathon and earned a stunning victory. After she won the gold medal her mother asked her if she was finally going to quit running (because she was getting married soon after). Joan’s response was, “No. There are other goals out there.”
Joan kept on setting and achieving her goals and at the age of 50 decided she wanted to break the 2 hour 50 minute mark for running a marathon. And guess what? She did it, coming in at 2 hours, 49 minutes and 8 seconds.
As Joan looked back over her life she thought about things she would have loved to have known at the beginning of her career. Here’s a summary of her advice to her younger self:
• Let passion drive you
• Be ready to change direction
• Surround yourself with people who let you do your own thing
• There’s more to life than Olympic gold
• Sharing your passion with your kids is pretty cool
• Apply laserlike focus to whatever you do
• Passing the torch will make you happy
• Life is a marathon
Excellent advice from a wise woman and, advice we could all afford to follow. And I love Joan's comment back to her mother about having other goals - it's so important to set goals for ourselves in our lives, careers, and for financial security. To read the entire article about Joan online, just click here.
You can do it!
Lisa Quast
Career Woman, Inc. - "Your Future, Your Way"
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