The 8 Key Steps That I Learned from Endurance Sports That Influenced My Career

What does it take to achieve that big, crazy, wild goal that you have always dreamed about?

Two and a half weeks ago, I had the honor and privilege to achieve a personal life goal: I was fortunate enough to qualify and participate in the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. For those of you that do not know, this event consists of a 2.4 mile /3.8 km swim in the Pacific Ocean, a 112 mile / 180 km bike ride through a lava field, and then run a full marathon / 26.2 miles / 42.2 km. You do these events back-to-back-to-back non-stop where you start the swim at 7:00 AM and must finish the marathon by midnight of the same day.

Since then, I have been thinking about what it took to get to the start line and the people I met on this incredible journey that was 17 years in the making. When I arrived in Kailua-Kona, I met nearly 2,400 of the most inspirational men that I have ever met in my life. Although they were all exceptionally athletically talented, many of them were also extremely successful in their professional lives.

 During my years in participating in Ironman triathlons, I have met a wide range of people such as teachers, tradesmen, military officers, and even an 82-year-old nun. But I also met lots of successful CEOs, doctors, finance professionals, lawyers, engineers, and other high-earning professionals. For many of these Ironman athletes, the skills that they have learned in their training and races have significantly affected their personal and professional lives for the better. According to a study by the World Triathlon Corporation in 2015, the average household income for an Ironman athlete was $247,000 USD.

This got me thinking: could there possibly be a link between endurance sports and professional goals?

After carefully thinking about this for some time and talking to many Ironman athletes that made it to the Ironman World Championship, I have found that there are eight key steps that we were able to achieve to not only arrive at this prestigious event, but also to succeed in our professional careers. I tried to think back on my life and there are a lot of parallels.

Now you are asking, what are the eight key steps to achieving a big life goal?

1.      Set a Big Goal!

The first key step is simple: set a goal that is significant and means a lot to you!

In terms of my athletic adventures, I wanted to qualify for the Ironman World Championship, but I am by no means the world’s fastest or strongest thing on two legs. However, I truly wanted to do it. In addition, I also took on two other big goals: completing my Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and completing my M.D. degree. Although the adventure of these two degrees were completely different than finishing a long and grueling triathlon, the truth that I came to discover is that the journey for each one had a lot of similar features.

This is not just limited to sports or academia. I think it is critically important that we set big goals that we can strive for in life. This includes starting up a business, becoming wealthy and achieving financial freedom, writing a book, traveling the world, staying healthy, losing weight, and other personal goals. If you have a goal and have written it down, you are ready to embark on an amazing journey that will change your life.

2.      Develop a Plan

When I set the goal of participating in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, I obviously wanted to do it just like all the other 100,000+ athletes that participate in an Ironman every year. But the cold hard truth is this: I am not fast at all. But in 2012, something happened that worked in my favor. The Ironman group developed the Ironman Legacy Program where average people like you and me can participate in the world-famous event, but there was a big catch: you must finish a minimum 12 of these crazy, monstrous events in your lifetime to get into the program. I remember after I did my first one, I felt like I was going to die. I never thought I was physically capable of finishing 12 of them in my lifetime, nor did I know a single person that had done this. Although it was a goal and a possible road map, I kept doing these events to stay in shape, travel, meet new friends, and have fun.

Setting up a plan was critical for my Ph.D. and M.D. degrees. Each year during my Ph.D., I would meet with my committee and each meeting was a discussion of the plan to move the big project forward. I would present the work that I had done in the previous year, discuss the work I wanted to do the following year, and the steps that I would take to achieve it. Having this plan while listening to feedback from my committee was very helpful for my success.

Even when I was working towards my M.D., I had to take several different courses. I soon discovered within my first year of medical school that studying for this was entirely different than engineering. I ended up having to apply different strategies and implement plans to learn the contents for my courses and my board exams.

In industry, having a business plan is vital for the success of any company. Even if you wish to write a book, every author develops an outline of the beginning, the middle, and the end. When I worked with other screenwriters and novelists, the writers who believed they would figure things out while writing were the ones who mostly encountered the dreaded writer’s block and were unable to finish their story. From my experience, having a plan is necessary to achieve that big goal that you wish to work towards.

3.      Get a Mentor

Now that you have a goal and a plan, the third step is getting a mentor. The best possible advice I can offer is to find someone that has done the same goal that you are working towards, or if you can’t find someone, talk to people. Chances are your network knows somebody that can help you find somebody that is doing something closely related to what you are striving towards.

Back in 2008, I wanted to run my first marathon. To do this, I joined the Running Room on Pembina Highway in Winnipeg, Canada. When I joined their program to train for the Manitoba Marathon, I met my first mentor, Rod. Rod was an exceptional athlete with over 20 marathon finishes and he genuinely wanted every one of his athletes to finish. At that time, I struggled to run a half-marathon / 13.1 miles / 21.1 km. He taught me the strategy of 10’s and 1’s where I would run for 10 minutes and then walk 1 minute. This simple strategy paid off and I was able to finish my first marathon thanks to him.

When I began to explore the world of triathlon in 2009, I was extremely intimidated. I remember in August 2009, I joined my first triathlon practice at UCLA. At the time, I saw all these amazing collegiate athletes zooming through the lanes of the swimming pool like it was nothing. In contrast, I had no idea how to swim at all and I wanted to do an Ironman triathlon. I met my first triathlon coach, Gareth. While all the collegiate athletes were swimming like no tomorrow in the big pool, I was stuck in the kiddie pool learning how to blow bubbles and kick my feet. But as time progressed, Gareth taught me all the fundamentals to not only swim, but to complete my first triathlon and finish my first Ironman.

Mentors were also important in my academic studies. When I did my Ph.D., I had an advisor that mentored me on my journey. He was very challenging for me, and I might have gotten positive feedback from him once every year or two. Despite this, he did provide guidance on how to complete my Ph.D., even when I wanted to quit it in the worst way imaginable.

When I was in medical school, I met a lot of wonderful doctors and professors. I met an exceptional thoracic surgeon, Professor Lukasz Gasiorowski. He taught me the fundamentals of thoracic surgery, which really piqued my interest in the field and it was initially not a field that I would consider going into.

For most of my colleagues that created their businesses and were successful, they did have mentors that taught them a lot of important concepts for them to succeed. Although many of us try to do things on our own and are afraid to ask for help, I truly believe that having a mentor is an excellent guide to help you in your path for success.

4.      Baby Steps

With your goal, plan, and mentor in place, it is time to start working towards that special goal that you have always desired. From my experience, the most successful achievers are the ones who believe in the concept of baby steps. In other words, they aim for small, tiny goals that slowly build up instead of aiming to go big or go home in one shot.

About a decade ago, I had a wonderful friend that was visiting me in Canada, and he told me was planning to run the Manitoba Marathon the following week. As nice and friendly as he was, he had never ran more than 9 miles / 15 km in his life. The good news is that he did finish the marathon. The bad news was that he was in so much pain, he could barely walk, and he never wanted to do another marathon again because of that experience. Despite this, I was still incredibly proud that he still did it. Looking back, I think he would have had a much more positive experience if he had properly trained for it.

As I mentioned, I joined UCLA Triathlon back in 2009 and I had zero clue of how to do a proper freestyle stroke (I will even admit that I am still learning to this day!).  When I worked with Gareth in the kiddie pool, he taught me how to blow bubbles, use a kickboard, fins, pull buoys, paddles, and a bunch of other toys to get me comfortable with swimming. Thanks to him, I was able to swim 3 meters, then 5 meters, then 10 meters, then 25 meters… and then forever! I tried thinking the entire time to focus on my moments of progress, even if they were small, versus comparing myself to the fast and fit triathletes that were competing for UCLA. By focusing on myself and my baby steps, I was able to progress more, and I was not discouraged. By doing this, I slowly progressed from swimming in kiddie pools to Olympic-size pools, and then doing crazy races in lakes, rivers, the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea, and of course, swimming in the middle of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The concept of taking baby steps was important when pursuing my Ph.D. as well as my M.D. When I was doing my Ph.D., one of my co-advisors warned me I would have to read over 1,000+ scientific journal articles. As many of you know, these articles are very challenging to read as they can be dense, convoluted, confusing, and sometimes, they feel like they are written in their own language. Instead of being overwhelmed by the sheer number that I would need to read to have a good grasp of the field, I focused on the concept of baby steps. Every day, I would try to at least read one journal article, but I would take my time. I would carefully read them, highlight all the important points, and type in my thesis any critical information that had to be included. Eventually, I shifted from one article a day to two, then three, four, and then five journal articles per day. This strategy helped me in finishing off my literature review! By the time I had finished my thesis, my committee demanded me to cut down my literature review by a lot because I had done too much work! But in the end, I am glad that I did it because I became more familiar with my topic.

When I was doing my M.D., the best way to describe learning in medical school is drinking out of a fire hose. The truth is that there is too much information to know that it is literally impossible to know everything! This is something I had never experienced when doing my B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in engineering and it came as a shock. This was a tough concept for me to grasp. Instead, I focused on trying to learn the main concepts of certain diseases and treatments. These little baby steps helped me versus being overwhelmed by a plethora of random facts.

5.      Consistency

One of the biggest things I have noticed in the years that separates people from achieving their big ultimate goals is consistency. If you consistently put in the work and effort, even trying to become just 1% better every day, you will notice improvements and get one step closer to that big goal.

When I was training for marathons and Ironman triathlons, I would exercise six or even seven times per week, and usually I had to do multiple workouts in a day to stay in shape. Finding the time to do this was extremely difficult whether I was working as an engineer, doing my Ph.D., or doing medical school. But I truly believe that if there is a will, there is a way.

One of the biggest tips I can offer is to set aside a certain time of day to do something. When I was doing my Ph.D., I purposely used my lunch time to go swimming at the pool. In the evenings, I would spend them at the gym either cycling, running, and/or doing weight training. I found by scheduling time for myself, I was able to follow proper training programs.

By focusing on baby steps and being consistent, I accumulated a lot of miles over the years. After carefully looking at my weekly averages each year, I have estimated to date that I have swam enough miles to swim across America, I ran around the planet one-and-a-half times, and I biked around the planet at least three times. For those of you that are wondering, no, I was not running 20 miles every day nor did I have the time to do anything like that. Instead, I just ran a few miles, spend some time in the pool, and cycle whenever I could over several years. That’s it. Consistency over 17 years slowly adds up and the numbers can be gigantic as time marches on. To make it to the Ironman World Championship, I ended up finishing 16 full Ironman triathlons. My training races included 41 full marathons and 21 Ironman 70.3's (half-Ironman races).

This strategy also helped me in other aspects of my life. When I was working on my novel, I would devote time late in the evening to write. By setting a specific time every day to do it, I was able to write a little more each day and I eventually finished my novel.

When I was doing my Ph.D., I had to read these 1,000+ journal articles, which are by no means fun to read. I purposely devoted my morning to reading these articles just so I could get them over and done with. As for medical school, all I can say is that I was constantly studying for different quizzes, tests, and board exams. The fun never ends!

6.      Become a Mentor

Although I had mentioned that it is helpful to get a mentor when seeking your own goal, one of the most rewarding experiences is to become a mentor yourself. That way, you are forced to become the master and teach everything you know to the protege.

Back in 2011, I had finished Ironman Wisconsin, and I met one of my classmates, Jeff. Over coffee, I told Jeff about the experience. Little did I know at the time, he was extremely intrigued about this whole event and the most he ever ran in his life was 6 miles. Well, the following morning, Jeff signed up to do Ironman Canada the following year! When he told me this, I was in absolute shock. That year, I spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours working with Jeff teaching him everything I knew about swimming, cycling, running, and nutrition. In the end, Jeff successfully finished Ironman Canada in 11 hours and 29 minutes, which is excellent for any first-timer! I hate to admit it, but he ended up beating me by two hours! This experience forced me to learn the subject more, especially when he questioned me on many different aspects of the sport.

Being a mentor also helped me during my Ph.D. At that time, I was conducting research on how to prevent corrosion of artificial hip joints. I was teaching engineering students about basic biomechanics, engineering statics, and the design of biomedical devices. Every lecture I taught, the students asked me several excellent but challenging questions! This forced me to become even more knowledgeable about the materials that I was teaching and this made me become a better researcher.

In medical school, there is a concept called “see one, do one, and teach one”. Imagine that you need to learn how to remove stitches. You are going to first watch your mentor remove stitches from a patient. Then, you must remove the stitches yourself! Finally, you act as the mentor, and you need to teach somebody else how to remove the stitches. This concept helped me learn a lot of practical skills in medical school in a fast and efficient manner.

7.      Overcoming Setbacks

Unfortunately, setbacks are a part of life, and they can be unpredictable. Overcoming them can be our biggest challenge while pursuing a goal, but when you overcome them, it is a truly amazing feeling.

On August 13, 2020, I was riding my bike at Birds Hill Park. While riding down a small hill, the skewer in my rear wheel came loose. As a result, my rear wheel went flying off and I landed hard on my left shoulder. This resulted in a permanently separated left shoulder where I was unable to move my arm at the time. Even a week after the accident, I could not even walk to my mailbox because I was in so much pain. I truly thought my Ironman and marathon days were over.

To overcome this, I reached out to one of my friends, Stephanie, and she referred me to one of her physiotherapists, Kelsi. Kelsi gave me a series of exercises to improve my range of motion in my arm as well as my strength. Kelsi gave me a series of exercises to do, and they helped me tremendously. Each day, I was able to move my arm slightly more and I regained some of my lost strength. While focusing on baby steps and being consistent, I was very fortunate to reclaim most of my range of motion and my strength; however, I will never become a powerlifter. With all this hard work, I was able to walk to my mailbox pain-free after a month. Eventually, I was able to walk a mile, and then two miles. Finally, on Halloween of that year, I ran a full 26.2 mile / 42.2 km run on my own to earn my virtual Manitoba Marathon medal. Although it was a relatively slow time for me, I was super proud to have finished that marathon despite this major setback.

When I did my Ph.D., I ran into a major setback where I was to perform computer simulations (finite element analysis), but I faced several hardships. For an entire year, I ran thousands of simulations; however, I could not get a single positive result. I felt like an absolute failure and my advisor had no issues of reminding me that I needed to progress and move forward despite my best efforts. To overcome this, I asked two of my colleagues for assistance. They each provided me with some unique advice that helped me get my simulations to work. The biggest life lesson I learned from my Ph.D. is that it is okay to ask for help when you are experiencing major difficulties.

When doing medical school, the sad truth is that I had failed countless exams over those four long years. But it was not just me; most of my class did too. During that period, we all worked together and were able to help each other pass these exams and we got our degrees in the end.

8.      Resiliency

Although we may have setbacks, we may face overwhelming obstacles that may make a task feel that it is truly impossible to do. It is in these moments that you will find out if you are courageous or not to overcome a mountain of resiliency.

When I did my first Ironman in Louisville, Kentucky back in 2010, I remember I got to the half-way portion of the marathon segment. At that time, I had nearly burned over 10,000 kcal, I had heat exhaustion, and my body was absolutely famished. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to finish that event alive. Somehow, I forced myself to keep pressing on even though every step of my blister-covered feet felt like I was running on hot coals. In the end, I finished my first Ironman triathlon and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

When I truly wanted to quit my Ph.D., especially during the year where I did not give a single positive result, I thought about that experience. I kept working, stayed persistent, and remained hopeful based on my experience at Ironman Louisville. In the end, I was able to finish my Ph.D., and I owe a lot of it from learning about resiliency at Ironman Louisville.

The single most challenging moment that I faced in my life was at Ironman Vichy in Vichy, France in 2021. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had signed up for one of the world’s toughest bike courses where I had to bike uphill 7,800 feet / 2,300 meters high and ride down on sharp hairpin switchbacks that can terrify even the most experienced cyclists. Being from Manitoba, which is flat prairie land, I truly felt like a fish out of water, and it was a grueling nightmare. By the time I had arrived at the marathon stage, I thought I was going to die on the course.

When I got to mile 22, I lost all my hope. It was pitch black, there was a full moon in the twilight sky, and my body was obliterated. I remember I sat down on a bench in the middle of a park. Despite my efforts, my body would not tolerate any food or drinks. While sitting on this bench, I had a 10-minute conversation in my head about quitting or to give it one last shot. This was not an easy decision even though I had 4 miles to go, and I was ready to pass out. To this day, I am not sure how I did it, but I got up and slowly shuffled my feet while being famished and every step was pure agony. When I got to the finish line, I almost broke down because I did not give up when I wanted to in the worst way imaginable. That experience encouraged me to sign up for two Ironman triathlons that were even harder: I did the Ironman World Championship in Nice, France in 2023, and this past May, I challenged myself to take on the world’s hardest official Ironman, Ironman Lanzarote, and I proudly finished it.

By learning about resiliency in Louisville and Vichy, this influenced me in terms of what is possible when things get ugly. When I first came to Poznan, Poland for my M.D., it was an ugly experience. Medical school is very hard, but imagine doing this in a foreign country, the language is foreign, the culture is completely foreign, you do not know a single person, and it is in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an absolute nightmare for all the students. However, the experiences in Louisville and Vichy that nearly broke me down gave me the resiliency to keep chugging away, and I ended up getting my M.D. degree.

What does this all mean?

Although I gained a lot of athletic abilities that I did not think were possible, I learned a lot of valuable skill sets from endurance sports that carried on to other facets of my life. Not only did this happen to me, but I have seen this first-hand in so many people and it has positively influenced their lives. I cannot promise you that by running a marathon or finishing an Ironman you will be a multi-millionaire and the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Instead, I believe it is an opportunity to learn the fundamental skill sets to live a fulfilling life and achieving your biggest and wildest dreams.

I remember about 20 years ago, I had made a goal of becoming a M.D. with a Ph.D. in the area of Biomedical Engineering. I did not think it would happen for many years. But after doing several Ironman triathlons, I learned those eight key steps and they helped guide me towards this crazy professional goal that very few people can say they have achieved.

On October 26, 2024, I ended up qualifying as an Ironman Legacy athlete and participated in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. It was one of the toughest days of my life; however, it was the best day of my life. When I was running down the finish line, I had thousands of spectators shouting and cheering me on. Words cannot describe the experience of what it is like to spend years, if not decades, working towards a goal and you reach the final destination. When I stepped across that finish line, it was the happiest moment of my life where every single cell in my body exploded with fireworks. It is an experience that I truly wish each person reading this could experience just once in life.

As crazy as your life goals may be to everybody around you, I can 100% assure you that they are worth pursuing. Even though they will challenge you in ways that you cannot even imagine, the reward at the end is truly spectacular. Enjoy the journey and be prepared for that magical finish line that will change your life forever.