Dean Graziosi challenged his employee Jeremy to a 5K race to reignite his own running habit. He explains how setting a challenge with an accountability partner clarified his why and got him moving again, and suggests you do the same with your goals.
Hey, everybody. Dean Graziosi, welcome to the Weekly Wisdom. Today I have a challenge for you, or I should say, I want to teach you why you should create a challenge. Listen, we all get used to our habits and our beliefs and our daily routines, right? We want to lose weight, but, you know, we find it hard. We find that resistance to jump in. And sometimes we need something to really spark that, to get us going. And I want to give you an example. About five years ago, I decided to start running. I just never ran my whole life. I wasn't a runner. I've always been in pretty good shape, but I didn't run. I thought it was boring, it took too much time. But then I got into it and I really liked it. For about a year and a half straight, I ran all the time. And then I just stopped. Just like that, overnight, I stopped. Now, I still maintained and ran on the treadmill or did cardio, but I didn't run outside. And I love the fact that I travel a lot and I could get up at 5:30 in the morning and run every day anywhere and see different buildings and agriculture and architecture and people and places and big cities and little towns. It was really great, and I missed it. But I have to tell you the truth. I had different habits. I had different thoughts. I started thinking running was boring again. I started thinking, God, when you start, you got to start with a half a mile, then a mile. Do I want to start that whole process over again? And I was making excuses, but I wanted to jumpstart it because I know deep down I want to be a runner again. So about three months ago, Jeremy, who works for me, who's 24 years old, was talking about running, and I said, I got it. I challenge you. Let's run a 5K. And this was about two months ago, maybe. And I said, in five months, I'll give you five months to get in shape. 5K is only 3.2 miles. But I said, I'll give you five months to get in shape, which now it's down to about two and a half months. I said, book a 5K and I'll race you. And we bet. I bet he's got a newer car. I said, I'll buy you newer wheels. I'll buy you new tires and wheels for your car. And if I win, I'm gonna humiliate him and do something silly. Probably not. And make him do something around the office. Funny. But here's the thing. The truth is, I hope he wins because it'll get him in the best shape of his life. It'll show him he's empowered. But I keep messing with him. I'm saying, you're stronger physically. You're 22 years younger than me. But mentally, there's no way you can beat me. It's impossible. And I keep messing with him. And yesterday, I ran my fastest mile, day before yesterday that I've ever ra first mile, and I took a picture, a screenshot, and I sent it to him. Today, I ran five miles. This morning, I was in San Diego, California. Well, I was in Del Mar. I ran from Del Mar to Solana beach, up to Cardiff and then turned around. I ran five miles this morning. I haven't ran five miles in at least five years, maybe, maybe never. I don't know if I ever did five miles. Just do three or four. And I took a picture of the screenshot, and I sent it to him. Well, I know he's been on the treadmill twice a day, literally getting in shape. He's lost weight because we challenged each other. And again, it's a friendly challenge. I'm nudging him. I'm busting his chops. But really, I hope he crushes me. I hope he does well. It'll be hard, but I'm preparing to not lose. And what it did was, guys, listen. This is what I do every week, every day. This is my job to inspire. So I still have to do it in here. I knew my why I want to be a runner because I enjoy it when I travel. I don't need equipment. It feels amazing that I was given this gift that I could just take my feet with no gas, no car, and go four or five miles. I want to set a good example for my kids. I want to be in great shape. I was 40 years old when my son was born. I want to be there to play with his kids someday and feel vibrant and alive. I know my why on why I should run, so I got my why. I don't have distractions. I can do it on my own time. Nobody tells me I don't have to punch a clock for it. I have all the reasons that I never should have quit and I should start running again. But guess what? I still wasn't until I found this challenge and it sparked this thing in me. This morning when I was running, I was going to give up at mile 4.4, and I looked at my phone where I have Irun. The Irun app is cool. I ran 4.4 miles, and I looked. I'm like, no. I said, I was going to do five miles today. I got to race Jeremy in three months. I kept going. I kept pushing. If I didn't have that challenge, I probably would have quit. Or maybe I never even wouldn't start at all. So that's my simple message for today. Today, whatever it is that you want to do, get to the gym, make more money, change your career, fix your relationship. I want you to think, why the hell you want it today? Why do you want to look better like me? I want to do it for my kids. I want to be healthy. I want to feel better. I want to set a good example. I want to have a great thing. I feel alive when I run. That's my why. And I use the challenge to start it. So what challenge can you set today that would get you going towards that goal of yours? And then secondly, figure out who you want to challenge. Call a buddy, call a friend, get him in the gym. Say, who's going to lose the most weight? Who's going to look the best? Who's going to have the biggest transformation? Who's going to have the most positive thoughts? Who's going to be more grateful? Who's going to have a better relationship? Who's going to make more money? I don't know what it is. Create your challenge today and challenge yourself to get started today or tomorrow. I'm Dean Graziosi. Thanks so much for watching this weekly wisdom. If you're Dean Graziosi.com, you can go right up here and grab my New York Times bestselling book, totally fulfilled, for free. Get it immediately. No catch, no cost. And if you're watching this anyplace else, you can go to deansfreebook.com that's deansfreebook.com I'll see you next week.
