I Actually Ran A Mile Every Day Last Year. Here's Why I Recommend It To Anyone

To be clear, if I ran three miles on Tuesday, that did not mean I could take Wednesday off. I was committed to running a mile Every. Single. Day. It was the minimum target that I could measure.

A number of people told me that I should challenge myself more, perhaps make the goal two miles or three miles.

I get it—one mile isn't a lot, but that was intentional. This wasn't about the distance or the run.

The first day I put in a mile, it was 48 degrees outside, but I was pumped to start. After stretching a little, as soon as I took my first step it began to rain. Chilled and wet, I finished that mile. Day one done, and 364 to go!

Over the course of the year, I had to put in time to my commitment at all sort of hours of the day. I ran in cold temperatures (teens and 20s), in extreme heat (101 degrees and 95 percent humidity).

The goal took me places I never thought to run before. I once ran in circles in parking garages at least 18 times. I once paid for a one-month membership at a gym in Atlanta while traveling for business. I was only there three days, but the hotel gym was being remodeled, and it was the only option I had in cold, rainy Atlanta.

I once ran in jeans. Why? Because I was ready to do my run and that’s all I had on me. In October, I actually ran in the JFK airport in New York City. The TSA staff looked at me with indifference as I passed them for the fifth time in ten minutes.

Along the way, as I mentioned above, some folks continued to say, a mile is no big deal. Many days, I put in a lot more than a mile—some days, however, I just put in the minimum. No matter how far I ran, as long as I hit that one mile mark, I met my goal.

I learned in this journey that commitment is all about consistency. Most of it is not very sexy—simply me, alone on the streets where I live, or on a treadmill watching the same reruns of SportsCenter and Seinfeld.

The greatest impact of this commitment was to challenge myself to consider where else I could commit. I was reinvigorated at work with my team, and I committed to be more present with my kids and wife.

This small commitment to run a mile a day had a dramatic impact on all the peripheral details of my entire life. It has make me keenly aware of commitment (or lack thereof) in myself and others.