With most things in life, we’re honest about how hard they are.

You don’t sign up for a marathon thinking you can just wing it. You train. You suffer. You show up, sweaty and humbled.

But business? Somehow, we act like we can skip the pain. Watch a few TED talks. Read a book. Drop buzzwords like “scale” and “synergy” and pretend we know what we’re doing.

We fake it, hoping no one notices.

But business—real business—doesn’t play along forever.

It shows up in late nights. In the wrong hires. In the product that looked good on paper but went nowhere.

It humbles you. Just like the marathon.

You can’t shortcut your way through it. You’ve got to show up. Run the miles. Take the hits. Learn what works—for you.

No one else’s playbook fits your feet.

So if you’re doing business, do it. Don’t pose. Don’t perform.

Run your own damn race.