Our reach should exceed our grasp

The girls and I, my sister and one of my best friends have taken to entering the Mother's Day Classic fun run as an annual tradition.

The girls like to run in honour of their paternal grandmother and great-grandmother - both of whom are breast cancer survivors.

This year, my eleven-year-old decided she would run the 10km. This is double the longest distance she has ever run, and a bit of a tall order, I thought (given lack of training, other than last week's school cross country carnival where they ran about 4km).

Watching her set off, I was reminded of the time she insisted on entering the 100m open freestyle in the swimming carnival in Year 2 and came last. It was heart-wrenching.

An hour later, she was calling me from the finish line (our 5km walk had begun by this stage), sounding jubilant and energised - she and Auntie ran the whole way without stopping.

Start today

Growth is one of our six 'core needs' - without it we feel stagnant and unfulfilled.

It was Robert Browning who said our 'reach should exceed our grasp', and he was right. There is nothing more motivating than striving for something that may be just out of reach, and nothing more rewarding than realising it wasn't out of reach, after all.

Think about your career. Are you really stretching yourself, or just coasting? Do you feel like you're moving forward, or like you're stuck?

What is the first thing you need to do to propel yourself in the direction you want to go?