A Running Habit

Running for me is a habit: one that is key to how well I function, how effective I am in the world, and the quality of my relationships.

 It is a habit that has been formed over twenty-five years: from a twelve-year old jogging up and down his street in the picturesque Highland village of Carr-bridge, to a thirty-seven year old running a 2.47 marathon in Edinburgh in 2024.

 This series of blog posts looks at the benefits of building a running habit, before exploring how to build your own running habit.

Habits of Highly Effective People

In his book, ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ Stephen Covey has a first habit which is central to everything in the book: ‘Be Proactive.’

Covey describes this habit as:

“Be Proactive is about taking responsibility for your life. Proactive people recognize that they are “response-able.” They don’t blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. They know they can choose their behaviour.”  

Proactivity is, of course, the opposite of being reactive: it involves making things happen, rather than just waiting for things to happen to you.  The list of synonyms for proactivity are also very helpful in making this clearer: enterprising, energetic, driven, bold, dynamic, motivated.

In explaining this habit further, Covey identifies two circles: the circle of concern and the circle of influence.

The circle of concern is what we might be concerned with, but cannot directly shape or influence. The circle of influence is, as the name implies, what we can in fact shape and control.

Proactive people, according to Covey, focus on their circle of influence. By focusing our energy on our circle of influence we find that it grows: we discover more things we can shape and influence:

“Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase.

Reactive people, on the other hand, focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern. They focus on the weakness of other people, the problems in the environment, and circumstances over which they have no control. Their focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive language, and increased feelings of victimization. The negative energy generated by that focus, combined with neglect in areas they could do something about, causes their Circle of Influence to shrink.”

Proactive Runners

Now, I can already see my wife (and probably my two small children) laughing outrageously if I had the audacity to describe myself as a highly effective person. I have much to learn on most fronts.

Yet in that very much a work in process, I do feel that my running habit has taught me to be, for the most part, a proactive person.

The very act of putting on running shoes and taking those first steps is a proactive choice. It relies on us focusing entirely on our circle of influence: we are in control of making ourselves move, of the choice of leaving the house, of the act of sustaining the forward movement required of running.

The proactive act of running also teaches us that we can shape not only our health but also how we feel. I’m not sure I have ever, for example, regretted going for a run (other than the time I fell into the pond in Hyde Park; or the time I ran into a lamp-post, or… I’ll stop that thread here). Anyway, the proactive action of running has a huge impact in mood-management and energy levels.

That is hugely empowering and the positive outcome of making that decision to run feeds into all other aspects of our lives.

It gives us improved self-efficacy: we see we can rely on ourselves to work towards goals and achievements. We see that by shaping our fitness, we can in turn begin to shape our life circumstances.

Of course, at times I am reactive: I’m not a robot and I can waste huge amounts of time in reactive thinking patterns or habits. I know, however, that the choice of taking those running steps will provide a rest-bite to this, help me to refocus and reprioritize, and focus on my own circle of influence.

Can we control the weather?

A running habit has to take place in all kinds of weather. The external weather we run in, however, lies in our circle of concern: we cannot control it. However, the act of running helps us to take responsibility for our own inner weather.

To finish with Stephen Covey:

“Proactive people can carry their own weather with them. Whether it rains or shines makes no difference to them. They are value driven; and if their value is to produce good quality work, it isn’t a function of whether the weather is conducive to it or not.”

 A very simple, easy and cheap proactive decision you could make today? Go for a run.

Thank you for reading.

Read: Stephen Covey’s ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’.

Listen/Watch:  Wisdom for Life ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Summary’: