Have you heard of marathon runner Allie Keiffer? I hadn’t, until I read her story in the NY Times over the weekend. Allie had been a promising runner in her youth, but during college they told her she didn’t have the proper build to be a long-distance runner, meaning she wasn’t thin enough. Allie lost the weight and her running fell apart.
Years later after becoming a professional nanny, Allie returned to her passion and trained to run her way. She ate, she went to Cross Fit, she squatted with heavy weights. Last year, at the age of 30, she came in 5th in the New York City Marathon. This coming weekend, she’s aiming for the podium.
I loved reading Allie’s unlikely trajectory, because she eventually tuned out the naysayers, went against convention and found her own path to success. No doubt it hasn’t been easy for her. But she knew what worked for her, and once she became comfortable enough to listen to herself, she succeeded.
Often everyone acts like an expert, so many people will give you advice–whether you are making a next step with your company or dealing with a personal issue. Sometimes the advice helps, but other times you know in your gut their advice won’t work for you. Are you ready to say ‘thank you’ but ultimately tune them out? Learning to have confidence in the decisions I make is something I continue to struggle with. But more and more, I am learning to trust my intuition. Do I make mistakes? Plenty. I have also learned invaluable lessons from each wrong turn. Allie’s story is a reminder to me to stay true what is intrinsically important to my life and what I’m most passionate about and stumble down my own path.
photo courtesy NY Times
LOVE THIS JENNIFER.