A few weeks ago I decided to train for another marathon. In November 2015, I ran my first marathon – the NYC marathon – and it was a great experience. I was able to do it only 15 weeks after having surgery. Crazy, I know.
So how did I do it? Two things were critical to achieving this goal. First, I had a plan and I stuck to it. But second, I had a group I was training with – I had accountability.
One of the most important keys to marathon training is the long run that you do once a week. On Saturday mornings when I didn’t feel like running 18 miles, I’d force myself to get out there because I knew there’d be 8 other people running with me. I didn’t want to be the person who was a no-show.
With a solid plan, a blueprint to follow, and built-in accountability, I was able to run the NYC marathon and I can actually say I didn’t feel terrible. I don’t look back on it with memories of agony and pain. Why? Because I was well trained.
So, with my sight set on doing a marathon in under 4 hours, I’m following a new plan and training with a new team. I’ll keep you posted.
I believe the idea of a plan and accountability is critical to our success in anything we want to achieve.
When I was first starting out in UX, I didn’t have a plan.
In fact, it was a total accident. I didn’t even know UX existed. Someone gave me a book and I read it and realized, “that’s what I want to do” … and I had no clue how to get there.
So I made up my own path.
Learning about UX has been a really long journey for me. When I was starting out, I found myself spending hours Googling how to do things. I learned by trial and error. I figured everything out as I went.
But looking back, I wish I had a blueprint or a plan. I wasted a lot of energy trying to do it on my own.
That’s why I’ve been working on developing a blueprint for others to follow on how to learn more about UX.
But not just the basics — I want to help you go beyond the basics. To help me help you, I’m curious about a few things.
Please leave a comment below and let me know a few things:
- What do you find yourself researching over and over?
- When trying to learn about UX, what topics have been the hardest to grasp?
- What about UX intimidates you the most?
- What’s held you back fro learning more about UX so far? What are you stuck on?
I’m excited to hear from you!!
I really do read all the comments and can’t wait to hear how I can help you learn more about UX.