What if I told you that the thing you're most afraid of might be exactly what you need to do?
But here's the thing about fear: it's usually pointing us toward our greatest growth.
Today, I want to share the story of how I went from someone who couldn't run 1.5km without feeling completely defeated to completing a full marathon in Rome. This isn't just a story about running, it's about what happens when you stop letting fear make your decisions and start choosing challenges that scare you.
Let's dive in...
One of the main problems nowadays is that we become addicted to predictability: School → University → Job → Family → House → Repeat.
This systematic approach makes us incredibly weak when facing the unknown. We lose our ability to adapt, grow, and handle unexpected challenges.
The unknown terrifies us because we've never practiced dealing with uncertainty. We avoid challenges that could transform us because they feel too risky. This fear keeps us small, preventing us from discovering our true potential.
Here is the math: 25–35% of adults worldwide intentionally take on some challenge (personal growth, fitness, learning, career) within a year. All the other part of the population is living a repetitive and safe life that keeps their fear inside them.
But what I found out is that the beauty of life comes when you face this deep fear of yours and beat it. There is no better feeling I have ever felt.
So it was one regular afternoon in my life, nothing special, and my boyfriend, who is a football player, came to me and he was like, “Babe, I have an idea you will probably disagree with me, but I am gonna do it. I feel like I need something like this.”
And you guess I was like, what is he talking about? And he said he is going to sign up for a marathon in Rome in March.
It was November of the previous year, and I hated running for all of my life. I swear I was the person who always said I wouldn’t run even if I had to take off the bus. I would wait 2 hours, but I wouldn’t run.
Believe it or not, a few days later, I said I am in, and I started my preparation when my first run was 1.5km, and I was like an aunt.
So slow.
Really, I loved the gym and swimming, but running wasn’t my thing. But after my first run at 1.5km, 42km felt like this was just impossible.
As unbelievable as it sounds, I did it.
After 5 months of regular running and a program I made for myself as an absolute non-runner to achieving the 42km marathon.
What I want to say with all this is that I was really scared of the thought I had to run at least 5 hours without stopping, and as a person who had never run before, this was like the scariest thing ever.
What I had to do to achieve it was this fire inside of me to confront this fear of running and just being with myself doing nothing but running for hours. I had times when it was snowing outside, and I was running because I had this deadline for the competition. I had no choice but to go and run and prepare myself because time was passing and the race was coming closer and closer.
Once I finished the line, I had this feeling in me that nothing else would give it to me except this challenge.
This feeling of power, and I was so proud of myself.
I didn’t care about anything else, how I looked or what other people thought of me, because I know I am now even under 1% of the population in the world that has achieved something like this.
Since then, I feel like nothing scares me that much anymore. If something happens, I can figure it out because there is no better win than that you set for yourself. Because life hits people with challenges every day, and most of them feel like, “Why me?”
And the reason they feel like this is they are not prepared, they are scared, and they feel they can’t handle it. So the best way to prepare yourself for life is by choosing to challenge your own capacity.
How to Choose Your Challenge?
- Write down 3 things that make you think, “I could never do that.” Physical endurance? Public speaking? Creative expression?
- Pick a challenge with a specific end date and measurable outcome.
- Break down your impossible goal into daily actions. What must you do today, this week, this month? Create a simple tracking system and focus on consistency over perfection.
- Expect to feel scared, uncomfortable, and doubtful. This isn’t a sign to quit—it’s a sign you’re growing. The discomfort is where transformation happens.
- Focus on who you become, not just what you achieve. Every day you show up, you’re building resilience. The real prize is the person you become through the journey.
And why am I sharing this and trying to adopt this kind of thinking and living in your guys?
Because when you prove to yourself that you can do something you thought was impossible, nothing feels quite as scary anymore.
You develop an internal knowing: “If I can do that, I can figure out anything.”
Life will throw challenges at you whether you’re ready or not. By choosing your own challenges, you build the mental, emotional, and physical resilience to handle whatever comes your way.
You’ll develop the ability to stay calm under pressure.
You’ll discover your body can do far more than you imagined. You’ll trust yourself more deeply.
And if this isn’t enough for you to take the risk to challenge yourself and to take your life under your control, I have no idea what to tell you.
Challenge yourself, set goals, make progress, give your attention and your energy to something meaningful, and you will fall in love with life.
Because what gives us happiness is the things that we give the biggest effort to achieve.
That's it for this week.
Thank you for reeding!
See you on next Sunday!
-Ekaterina
