5-MINUTE FRIDAY: Repeat After Me: Flexibility Opens Up Opportunity

You don't need to have it all figured out. You do, have to be willing to start, however. Talking about the perks of flexibility in today's episode, and answering a listener question about how to handle a major disappointment.

As a note: This is the last episode in season 19! Stay tuned, the show will be back November 11 in a ~big~ way.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:20):
What's shaken Emily. Here, you're listening to five Minute Friday
from Hurdle, the last episode in what may have seemed
at one point to be a never ending season nineteen.
I started taking season breaks. God, I think I did
the show regularly for maybe three or four years until
I finally got to a point where I was like, Okay,

(00:42):
I need to take some time every now and again.
So this season went on much longer than anticipated. A
lot of irons in the fire, a lot of things happening.
But what happens now is that Hurdle will be offline
for two weeks. I may launch a special episode in
there to be determined, but I will be launching season

(01:02):
twenty and some changes for the show and coming back
with some exciting news to say the least, on November eleventh.
So for those of you that are longtime hurdlers, maybe
you're a new hurdler either or I'm grateful that you're here.
I'm excited to take you on this journey with me,
and I cannot wait to share more. I am also

(01:24):
leading into my favorite time of the year here in
New York. It is New York City Marathon Week. Next week,
the New York Marathon is next Sunday, November second, and
it is my favorite day to be a New Yorker.
Everyone comes together and is so happy and the vibes
are high, and I'm praying like many of you, for
good weather. And I also have many events happening throughout

(01:47):
the next week, So if you are local and you
wanna come hang out, make sure you're following along with
me over on Instagram where you can get all of
that information. Again, my handle just my name over at
Emily a Body and Hurdle as always is over at
Hurdle Podcast for five Minute Friday this week, I want
to talk about being malleable and adaptable. I will never

(02:09):
forget choosing a major in college and thinking to myself, genuinely,
at age seventeen, how am I supposed to know what
I want to do with the rest of my life?
And luckily for me, I always wanted to be a writer.
I got into the field of journalism quite young, working
at the school paper and then the college paper, and

(02:30):
then pursuing internships and magazines and newspapers and digital and whatnot,
and it all kind of worked out for me. But
I think and know so many people right now, especially
that are similar in age to me in their thirties,
that are having this reckoning of sorts of maybe I

(02:52):
want to do something else, maybe there's more out for
me than what I started in And oftentimes that reckoning,
that thought process can be really scary, understandably so, But
you know what else is really scary doing something just
because you're afraid of starting over, sticking in the same lane,
on the same path, just because you're scared of the unknown.

(03:16):
Let me tell you something, Clarity is always a good thing,
even if the clarity doesn't give you what it is
that you want. Learning what it is that you need
to know so that you can then make the choices
you need to make to move forward is so valuable period.
And so I bring up the topic of flexibility and

(03:37):
being malleable today because that is an opportunity. It is
an opportunity to do things differently. It is an opportunity
to try new things. It is an opportunity to start
over and in that process get to know yourself better.
When I started podcasting, I mean I didn't know the

(03:58):
first thing about podcasts. I asked as many people as
I could a series of questions until I knew enough
to just begin. And something that's really resonating with me
here is that if you do nothing, you have nothing
to work with. Yeah, so there is the paralysis that
comes with starting over and starting fresh, whether that be

(04:21):
in your work or perhaps with a new relationship. And
if you start to build it, then you can adapt
as you move in group. You don't get to where
you want to be by avoiding taking action altogether. You
take action and then you do something with it. And
if you are just frozen by the idea of starting

(04:43):
over or beginning again, then you're not doing yourself any favors.
I'm kind of rambling here a bit, and I think
that I often say that on five Minute Friday. But
this lesson this like start with what you have and
do the best you can with what you have. It
is so apt, polokable to so many avenues in life.
I'm not just talking about starting fresh in relationships or

(05:05):
with work. I'm also talking about starting fresh with your routines,
your habits, your wellness practices, your movement. Right why not you?
Why not? Today? So I'm asking you, my listener prompt
you this week. Where are you hesitating your fresh start?
Where could you be a little bit more flexible. What

(05:30):
is it that excites you right now? And would it
hurt you if you just began food for thought? And
now a listener question. Hey, Emily Stephanie from Ohio here.
Have been listening to the pod since COVID lockdown and
you've kept me company on many runs, walks and commutes.
Thank you for bringing your perspective to the masses and

(05:51):
keep it coming. There's always such powerful goodness in the
hurdle feed. I appreciate you. I wanted to ask a
listener question about dealing with disappointment after a big effort.
I'm writing you the day after my third marathon, and
while I'm trying to be proud of the accomplishment, all
I can seem to feel is disappointed and embarrassed in
the outcome. I set an aggressive time goal and fell
short by significant a measure. In fact, this was my

(06:12):
worst time of all three races. I recognized there were
hurdles along the way. I trained fresh off of months
and months of downtime and planter fasciaitis. I know, I
know how that is. We had pouring rain and strong
wings on Rees Day and so on, but I know
from my training that the goal was in reach, so
that those facts feel like excuses. That brings me to
my question, how do you respond when you pour yourself

(06:32):
into an audacious goal, speak it to the world and
fall short. Thank you so much for everything you do,
and hope to keep hearing more from you. Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie,
I feel this in my bones. I hope that you
listened to my Chicago marathon recap because I really do
think that this can bring some perspectives, specifically to what
you are dealing with. I recognize and appreciate that we

(06:53):
don't work hard at something for it not to go
as we'd hoped, but especially when it comes to a
goal that requires so much opportunity cost, whether we're talking
about a marathon or something else. You have to find
joy in the journey and return to that joy and
understand that the journey is the destination. Now that sentence

(07:16):
that understanding it is not something that you can really
take solace in within the immediate time period after you
fall short of your goal. You have to feel your feelings.
It is completely understandable that you are feeling this way
one hundred percent, So know that You're not alone in that.
Feel your feelings, right on those feelings and utilize that

(07:39):
as your motivation to figure out what's next. I've said
this before. My dad asks me this question all the time.
Whenever something doesn't go as I'd hoped, or I'm experiencing
or really big letdown, he says, what's next? And sometimes
I want to like shove him to the side, and
I'm like, I'm not ready to answer that question yet.
But I can promise you that the journey is the

(08:01):
destination and setting your next big goal after a little
bit of downtime, that is going to be the thing
that helps you move on, that helps you graduate, that
helps you appreciate all of the effort and the good
things that came from that sixteen to twenty week experience
prepping for this really big day. And kudos to you.

(08:24):
You're recognizing that a lot of things didn't go as
you had hoped. The weather was hard, you came off
from downtime conquering a marathon after dealing with plantro fasciitis.
Again that if you know, you know situation, it's not easy.
So I want to commend you for your work. I
want you to be proud of the journey, and I
hope that moving forward, you can continue to find that

(08:44):
grace with yourself as you set your next big goal.
I'm always here to answer your listener questions and I
want them, so email me them over at Hello at
hurdle dot us. You can also always DM me again
over at Hurdle Podcast and at Emily a Body, Another
hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.