Sometimes, you have to step back—to come back stronger.

I've seen companies where peak performance was expected every single day.

No room for error. No tolerance for life's unpredictability. One slip-up, and your place at the table was questioned.

What happened to those companies? They burned through their people, and eventually, themselves.

Why?

Because constant pressure isn't how humans thrive.

I learned this firsthand during my peak marathon years (2011-2014).

Achieving marathon-level performance isn't linear. It's waves of pushing forward, setbacks, resting, then pushing again.

Last year, I recommitted to marathon running—not for medals, but for the clarity, focus, and resilience it cultivates.

Training for a marathon demands meticulous planning.

You balance work, life, family, illness, fatigue, and motivation—all while staying focused on a goal that requires at least two dedicated years to achieve peak form.

Today, after recovering from the flu, I ran my first 16k in weeks. The end of my run was the VCM starting zone, I paused to observe thousands of runners preparing for their own race.

Regular people. Not elite athletes.

But every single one had cultivated an extraordinary mindset. A mindset that businesses desperately need.

One runner stood bundled in the cold, smiling. His mother asked, "How are you coping with the weather?" He replied cheerfully, "Perfect. Great for running!" His family's admiration and encouragement filled the air.

That's genuine team spirit—the kind companies dream of building.

Nearby, a young woman adjusted her race bib nervously. Her partner asked softly, "How do you feel?" She admitted, "I'm nervous. 42.2 kilometers is long."

Then he gently reminded her of their mental preparation: how to respond when motivation falters. They rehearsed calmly, positively—preparing her mindset for the challenge ahead.

Neither would win the race today.

But they'd already won something bigger.

They mastered goal-setting, emotional resilience, and the ability to inspire genuine support from their teams. They learned to recognize negative thought patterns and rely on trusted allies to reset their mindset.

Imagine bringing this marathon mindset into your organization.

Marathoners know progress demands both intense effort and strategic rest. When setbacks happen—and they always do—they recognize these moments not as failures but as invitations to reorganize and return stronger.

I had big plans for March, but illness required me to step back. Today, I surprised myself with a new personal record for 15k.

That's how real progress works: peaks and valleys, pushing and recovering, relentless forward motion coupled with the wisdom to pause.

A marathon mindset isn't just valuable on race day. It's essential every day—in your teams, your leadership, and your entire company culture.

If you want lasting resilience and real growth, bring marathoners onto your team.

Not because they run, but because they understand how to navigate adversity, sustain motivation, and inspire everyone around them.

 Half Marathon #28: The Resilience Question

Yesterday, I produced a clip from my podcast featuring Suzanne Heywood. She talked about one trait every entrepreneur and executive needs to stay focused:

Resilience.

But here’s the real question—how do you build resilience?

Her answer was simple: Step out of your comfort zone. Do the hard thing. Go the extra mile.

Why It Matters

Resilience isn’t something you either have or don’t. It’s a skill. And like any skill, it atrophies when you get too comfortable. It sharpens when you actively push yourself.

Ways to Build Resilience

🔹 Run a marathon. Training takes months, and it’s brutally hard. Every long run tests your will. The minute you lace up for a 30K, you know—it’s going to hurt.

Today was one of those days. Doubt crept in before I even started. Am I really ready for 30K? Why not stop at 10? Maybe another day.

That’s the voice of resistance.

The trick? Recognize it. Accept it. Ignore it. And then, keep moving forward.

But if running isn’t your thing, here are other ways to sharpen resilience:

🔹 Have lunch with someone you dislike. Practice managing emotions. Stay kind. Stay in control.
🔹 Take on a work project you hate. Push through resistance. Execute anyway.
🔹 Join the military. Try special forces training. The ultimate resilience test.

Resilience Grows in Discomfort

It doesn’t grow on the couch. It doesn’t grow when you take the easy path.

It grows when you push into discomfort, again and again.

And the reward? Hard things stay hard—but you get stronger. You learn to manage yourself, separate noise from signal, and push toward your goal with a steady, positive mindset.

That’s resilience. That’s what keeps you moving forward.

 

You Want the Results? Then You Need the Lifestyle.

Yesterday's run was brutal. The final kilometers drained every ounce of energy. For the first time in this training cycle, I felt like I had hit my limit.

But here’s the thing—I’ve completed 17 marathons and hit this wall before. I know how this works. The pain doesn’t go away. The practice doesn’t get easier. The suffering just gets delayed.

Right now, I feel it at 28K. Soon, it’ll be 42K. Later, it might be 50K. The challenge remains. The threshold just moves.

Do You Want to Be Like Your Idols? Then Live Like Them.

People say they want to be as rich as Elon Musk or as fit as Dean Karnazes—until they realize what that actually means.

I remember discovering Karnazes’ books years ago. His story mesmerized me. Running 100 miles through the mountains every single day for the rest of my life? Sounded incredible. The endurance, the adventure, the books, the inspiration—it all painted a beautiful picture.

But there was one problem.

To be where he was meant doing what he did—
Every. Single. Day.
For decades.

The Michael Phelps Formula

The same lesson applies in every field. I once came across Michael Phelps’ training schedule:

🏊‍♂️ 7 hours per day
🏊‍♂️ 6 days per week
🏊‍♂️ Over a decade
🏊‍♂️ 80K meters per week—that’s 520 laps of an Olympic pool every day

And the result? 5 Olympic Games. 28 medals. 23 gold.

You want Olympic gold? Then that’s your life for the next 20 years.

You want Elon Musk’s success? Then be ready for his schedule, his risks, his sacrifices—every day, for decades.

The Reality Check

Musk once said, “People want to be me—until they understand what that means.”

Success isn’t magic. It’s brutal repetition. And those at the top? They’ve trained like Olympic athletes—just in entrepreneurship, investing, and innovation.

The Lesson

📌 If you want the results, you must embrace the lifestyle—100%.
📌 Find someone who has already done it. Model their life. Follow their routine.
📌 Do the work. Every single day. For as long as it takes.

🚀 What’s your goal? Who are you modeling? Let’s discuss in the comments.

This was Half Marathon #25

How to Deal with Trigger Anxiety — In Running and Business

Why do companies need visions, goals, processes, and task lists?

“Don’t overregulate us. We’re losing our edge as a startup. That’s why we work without all this big corp baggage.”

Sound familiar?

Here’s the problem: Startups often have plenty of activity… going nowhere. They’re busy, but not effective.

This morning, during the second half of my run, I listened to Joe Rogan’s conversation with Mark Zuckerberg. Joe talked about elk hunting in the mountains with a bow and arrow. After 11 days in the wilderness, he finally saw a target 75 yards (68.5 meters) away.

But here’s the challenge: it’s a long shot for someone who doesn’t practice consistently. That’s when trigger anxiety sets in — that psychological and physical hesitation that creeps up when the pressure to perform is at its peak. It’s performance anxiety disguised as overthinking, fear of missing, and the weight of inconsistent preparation.

Joe shared his solution: a consistent thought process. A simple, reliable routine that overrides the mental chatter. From my own experience, I’d add box breathing to calm the body while focusing on execution.

This made me think about running… and business.

Today marked the end of a 5-week training cycle. Over that time, I’ve pushed my Sunday long runs from 21k to 27k. Running in the high 20s is something I haven’t done in over a decade. For most of 2024, my longest runs were half marathons or high tens.

Long story short: I was tired. Some version of “trigger anxiety” crept in. Should I cut it short and try again next week? I’m exhausted. Why lace up the shoes at all?

This is where processes, programs, and task lists save the day. They keep me anchored to the long-term goal: running 50k every Sunday. Box breathing helps quiet unpleasant emotions, and the process ensures I can ignore the inner noise and just get going.

What works on the micro level works on the macro level.

Trigger anxiety happens in companies, too. And it’s even worse. Startup CEOs and their teams often operate on the brink of extinction. The stakes are high. The pressure is relentless.

This is why startups need vision, processes, and task lists — right from the beginning. These tools create focus, structure, and clarity in chaos. They’ll go through trial and error, scrapping and rebuilding until they find the 20% of processes that deliver 80% of results.

Sometimes, it means pivoting — scrapping everything, even the vision. But when a team gets it right, executes through the noise, and stays committed despite the anxiety, they’ll win.

What works for a tired runner on a Sunday morning also works for a team chasing its next milestone: trust the process, breathe, and keep moving forward.

Half Marathon #24: The Lesson in Progress

The training effect is kicking in. I remember how the first half marathon last year felt—every step heavy, every kilometer a grind. Now, the same distance takes less time, and with the same effort, I can run longer.

This is the beauty of the training effect: repeating the same activities, day after day, builds a foundation. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, you become stronger.

But here’s the thing: progress comes with a warning. Enter the Dunning-Kruger effect.

The first phase of learning feels incredible. Gains are fast, and confidence soars. You start to think you’ve cracked the code, that you know it all. Congratulations—you’ve reached the summit of Mt. Stupid.

And then reality hits. Behind that summit lies a vast mountain range. Peaks higher than you imagined. Valleys deeper than you feared. You realize how little you actually know, and suddenly, progress feels slow, even hopeless. This is the Valley of Despair.

This is where many people quit. The effort required feels disproportionate to the progress made. Knowledge feels out of reach, as if no matter how hard you try, the real answers remain elusive.

But here’s the truth: progress doesn’t come in leaps. It comes in small, minor increments, so subtle you feel like you’re standing still—walking on a plateau that stretches on for weeks, months, sometimes years.

This is where trust matters. Trust in the process. Trust in the repetition.

The results are building, even if they aren’t immediately visible or measurable. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the breakthrough happens. Progress accelerates—crashing in like a wave.

So, keep going. Keep repeating the activities you know create results. Trust the process, even when the plateau feels endless. Growth is there, waiting to show itself when the time is right.

The mountain chain is long, but every step forward is still a step closer.

What about you?

What’s your “mountain” right now? Whether it’s in running, business, or life—how do you stay consistent when progress feels slow? Share your insights in the comments—I’d love to hear your strategies and learn from your journey!

This was August 2022 - Marathon Training

It is done. I made the decision to continue with my marathon project. 

Not necessarily that I aim to do a marathon every month. I am more up to enjoying a marathon once in a while.

It must also not be a full marathon distance at an official event. During the pandemic, many event organizers have set up virtual marathon runs that aspiring marathoners can do whenever and wherever they want.

Let's get things started.

In August, I completed 176 Trainingskilometer and am aiming to run the first full marathon next year in Vienna in spring.

Wrap Up July 2022

 In July 2022 I made the decision to train for marathons again. 10 years ago I ran 17 marathon in about 3 years, and afterward had other goals.

After 18 days I got a brief insight into where I stand. In simple words: I have to treat training like beginning from scratch. 

What is the first step?

Cleaning up nutrition habits. Back in the days when I ran marathons my nutrition plan consisted of:

- Porridge

- Vegetable Soup

- Salads 

- Green Tea and

- Water

The first goal in August 2022:

Buying only ingredients for the above list. Since I don‘t like throwing food away, it also means cleaning out the house of all food that isn‘t on the list. Cooking and eating garbage basically. :-)

For the running it is getting back to 10-15 k runs with a run/walk regimen. Getting in the distance first, and working on details later.

Happy August. Enjoy Summer.