What keeps you from being great?

I ran track for three years in junior high school. When I showed up on the first day of practice, I wasn’t sure what my event would be. 

I knew I wasn’t a distance runner. 🙄

My coach suggested I try the 400 meters, which is essentially a really long sprint. 

When I started training for the 400m, I would always start strong, but after the first 200m, I would sort of fizzle out and finish much slower than when I had started the race. 

Early in the season, my coach had a teammate pace me around the 250m mark. 

She just said, “Audrey, keep up with me.” 

I didn’t even think about it, and kept pace with her. 

That day, I shaved seconds off my time and broke through a mental barrier that had been holding me back from running the way I was truly capable of running. 

I went on to win every race and was the first place 400m runner for 3 years in a row in my district.

Photo by Nicolas Hoizey

I needed my coach to draw out the ability that was within me. 

In work and in life, sometimes we need someone to draw out our greatness, to help us get to that next level.

What greatness lies within you that hasn’t been drawn out yet? 

What are you waiting for?