I ran a little over two miles on the treadmill today. I didn’t know if I’d ever do that again.
It’s not that I haven’t run two miles on the treadmill before. In fact, I’ve run a half dozen half marathons and countless 5Ks. Last summer, my youngest daughter challenged me to run 200 miles during the months of June and July. I accepted and managed to eke all the mileage out with days on the calendar to spare.
However, in May, I sustained an injury resulting in two months of physical therapy. Even a month ago, two miles on the treadmill seemed forever beyond my reach.
Recovery — from injury, from failure, from financial setbacks — brings pain. We have to learn how to do things in a new way. We’re forced through tedious steps we once regarded as easy. In particular, when you suffer a financial “injury” like a job loss, an emergency expense or fatigue in savings goals, you travel through both emotional and monetary challenges. As I reflected on the road to returning to running, I realized the life parallels involved between both.
You need outside help
Soon after incurring injury, I noticed I couldn’t do what was easy in the past. Forget running, I was having difficulties simply balancing on one foot. After a week without improvement, I knew I needed to do something. I called my doctor and set up an appointment.
She suggested physical therapy, so I booked another appointment. For financial recovery, you may need similar outside voices of wisdom.
You may want to set up an appointment with a financial advisor, or perhaps seek out the assistance of a job coach. If you don’t have the cash to do either of those, you can do research online or at the library. Books, podcasts, and online articles might also help.
You need to do the daily small work
There’s no way I would have been able to run today without hours and hours of exercises that had nothing to do with running. Over the past two months, I’ve stretched and lifted and intentionally worked small muscles that are easily damaged.
The natural reaction when we suffer a financial setback is to bury our heads in the sand. We let attention to detail slip and neglect necessary tasks like keeping up on our bills. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, but you need to stick with the mundane routine of managing your money well. This may mean you set up a weekly schedule for regular bill pay, or to program an alert on your phone daily to check your accounts.
Jobs like these may not feel like they’re making a great impact in the moment. However, the small work multiplies over time.
You need rest
Part of the path to running again involved the counter-intuitive. I needed rest. In order to allow my leg to heal my body needed me to slow down.
When it comes to your money, let’s be clear about what rest looks like. Rest is not lying on the couch watching cartoons in your jammies and eating cereal, hoping for the best. Rather, rest in this scenario might look like introspection. You need to ask yourself how you ended up where you’re at right now.
While there are factors beyond our control, oftentimes our predicament stems from unhealthy behaviors or unwise choices. Try not to berate yourself for these actions. Instead, deal with your emotions and choices, setting up new habits to prevent a return to the same situation in the future.
You need to be patient
Change doesn’t occur overnight. As much as I wanted to go back to running immediately after my first PT session, it wouldn’t have been helpful or wise to even try. Practicing patience during a difficult season of life can result in weariness, but in the end, realizing that this phase isn’t eternal helps.
You need to build back up gradually
The most effective changes I’ve ever successfully implemented were what author John Trent refers to as “2 Degree Differences.” Often when we want to achieve a goal, we think rapid, dramatic change is necessary. We slash spending by 50 or even 80 percent. We quit cold turkey. We decide to work out four hours straight after several years’ hiatus.
As you might imagine, 180-degree decisions land us in an unsustainable pattern and in what my dad would refer to as “a world of hurt.” These choices can even produce damaging results beyond repair.
Instead, look for smaller changes to add back incrementally. Once you’ve mastered a specific skill set or behavior for thirty days, add another smaller change to your routine. Gradual measures help you see results without depriving yourself to the point of failure.
After keeping that minor goal in check for 30 days, decide which next small step you’ll implement in addition to the first during the next month. Specific time frames help us wrap our minds around what’s necessary and what we can withstand.
I’m not sure I’ll want to run another half marathon again. But in this moment, I’m grateful to be able to run through the parking lot when it’s raining or chase after my kids in the yard. Injury — financial or physical — often works that way. We’re reminded of just how thankful we are for the simple things in life.
