Hi! I’m Ioan Mitrea!
This year I decided to do something symbolic for the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014: I completed a 24 hour run in San Francisco.
I started moving at 9:00AM on December 31st and I kept moving, with a few breaks until 9:00AM on January 1st.
I walked some of it, ran some of it, and by the time it was over, I had gone 66 miles.
Why Would I do Such a Crazy Thing?
I ran a few marathons and a 50k race in 2013, but I’m not a great runner or a natural runner. I am very slow and for a long time I actually hated running. But I discovered along the way that I can keep going for a long time.
Running or walking long distances is a great way to see the results of relentless progress and how much you can achieve by putting one foot in front of the other without giving up.
And it turns out that this is a great metaphor for running a business.
Running Inspired Lessons for You
Keep track of your progress and celebrate it!
I felt great each time I finished another mile, just like it felt great when our software managed its 1,000,000th and 2,000,000th order! Share your progress and get others to cheer you for it.
Pace yourself!
Don’t go faster than it’s sustainable for your body or your business. During the first few hours of the race I was the slowest, but I kept going and went further than other people in the end. My goal was not to cover a certain distance but to still be moving at the end. Don’t compare your results with those of other businesses. Work hard, pace yourself and don’t give up.
Fuel yourself!
When you run a marathon, you need to drink 16-20 ounces of water and eat 200-300 calories every hour to keep from running out of energy. When you run an Amazon business, you need to make sure you have enough profit on the items that you sell (and enough items to sell) to keep yourself going.
If you have questions about selling on Amazon or just want to tell me that I’m crazy for running 24 hours straight, join our Facebook Discussion Group.