I love this Norwegian concept of how the hardest part of a journey can be just getting out of the door.

So, sometimes as Seth Godin would say, the most important thing is just to start — start small, start now, step by step, day by day and you can give yourself the chance of making something amazing.

Got something you’ve been meaning to start? Maybe today’s the day?

This sketchplanation is my 104th in consecutive weeks — that’s 2 years of weekly sketches without missing one — and sketchplanation number 583 in total. And I can tell you that it didn’t start glamorously, and they weren’t high quality or even interesting, but I did start. Sketch by sketch. Week by week.

Would you do me one favour? Would you share sketchplanations with just one person? Maybe forward this one, or your favourite, or share this tweet or follow on Instagram. I really appreciate you spreading the word.

I’d like to give a massive thank you to my patrons who’ve been supporting me this year with a particular shout to Nick Hungerford, Iain Shaw, Christian Hunt, and Tony Hey. Find out more.

HT: once again to Chris Hey for introducing me to the doorstep mile

The doorstep mile

I assumed fun is all the same. Fun is fun. But then, when I first heard about Type I and Type II fun, I had to admit there was some validity in there being different types of fun.

Type 1 fun is like eating ice cream, or skiing with ski lifts to whisk you back up to the top — you love it while you’re doing it, and when you think back on it you remember how good it was. Straightforward— sounds like fun.

Type 2 fun, on the other hand, is the sort of enjoyment you get from something like running a marathon or climibing a mountain. You often have to admit that it wasn’t necessarily all fun at the time. In fact, it could have been quite hard and might have hurt a bit (like the swimrun event I did last weekend). But when you look back on it, you think of it as often more fun and fulfilling than the Type I fun.

Type 3 fun is usually type 1 or 2 fun that went wrong. Though it was supposed to be fun, things actually got a little hairy – like you got lost, or it got dark, and it got cold, or you had to be rescued — but…it sure makes a great story when you make it back.

HT: my brother shared this with me having learned it from his mountain guide doing classic Type II fun.

The fun scale

Last weekend I teamed with Rob Bell and took part in Otillo’s UK swimrun in the Isles of Scilly. Swimrun is basically navigating from one place to the end over water and land with no bikes, and carrying any small non-powered gear you need. What you start with you have to finish with. The gear in the sketch is just illustrative, you don’t have to have any. You run it in pairs staying within 10m of each other at all times including the swims. Many run it tethered to each other. The Scilly event was a swimrun paradise. Check out the course, and the amazing event photos. The place is gorgeous, go visit sometime. And get into swimrun it’s awesome!

For those in London you might try The Swimmer for a casual affair. Also see, Love Swimrun.

Swimrun.

Swim a mile in water 5C or less. The ice mile is hardcore. Respect for crazy, amazing people like Lewis Pugh. Or if you’re in London, check out The Swimmer.

Sketchplanations tagged with endurance