See it. Feel it. Do it. How I ran a thousand marathons before I even hit the starting line

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Commitments. A gritty, endearing, and often hilarious tale about a rag-tag group of soul musicians striving for success in working-class Dublin.

Undoubtedly my favorite scenes throughout the whole film involve the band’s ambitious young manager. I particularly like the ones when we see him role-playing various scenarios in which he is interviewed by the mass media on the trials and tribulations of running a successful music group.

Not only are they kinda funny and provide a unique way to get into the protagonist’s thought process, but because they provide a great example of something I’ve often done to help myself along when faced with a particularly monumental task.

No, not talking to myself in the bath (though yes, OK, I am guilty of that on occasion!), but visualizing myself having already achieved whatever is I’m aiming for.

A few years ago, I signed up to haul my body 26.2 grueling miles around London in an attempt to complete a marathon.

There’s nothing particularly special about this, thousands of people complete marathons every year. Even with a multitude of health problems that I had at the time adding an extra layer of difficulty to the…