“What if?” — Two tiny words that somehow manage to weigh a ton.
Most of us run this loop more times than we realize, sometimes literally during a run, sometimes in the quiet moments between meetings.
It shows up as second-guessing, replaying, predicting, and mentally rewriting a past that isn't editable.
I've done it too:
What if I'd taken a different job?
What if we'd moved to another neighborhood or chosen another house? Would I have different friends? Would my kids?
What if I'd said no when my son wanted to pursue his motorcycle license?
What if I hadn't stayed with my friend during that race last May… would I have finished instead of DNF'ing at mile 81?
Those questions feel important in the moment, but they don't move us forward. They stall us.
They drain energy that could instead be used on the next mile, the next opportunity, the next version of ourselves.
But here's the shift I'm leaning into, a reframing that's helped both in my running life and my professional life:
“What if” isn't automatically negative.
It doesn't have to be a doorway into regret.
It can be an invitation to curiosity.
What if the choice I made was the right one, even if it didn't feel like it at the time?
What if the unknown isn't something to fear, but something to stay open to?
What if I trust that every step (even the wrong ones, even the muddy ones, even the ones in the dark with headlamps flickering) teaches me something I'll need later?
Running has a way of proving this to me again and again.
You train. You prepare. You control what you can. And then the rest? The weather, the terrain, the unexpected moments, they're part of the story. They shape you as much as the finish line ever could.
Life works the same way.
We can plan and strategize (and hey, I'm a business/entrepreneur guy, ideation and planning are built into my DNA!). But we can also practice being present instead of haunted by alternate universes we'll never visit.
The past is already written. The future is unwritten. The present, as cheesy as it sounds, is literally the only place where anything happens.
So I'm trying something new:
Preparing as best I can…
Welcoming whatever comes next…
And staying curious rather than critical.
What if that shift is all any of us really need?
What about you? How do you handle your “what if” moments?