 So, let's jump in. Habits are hard, right? They take time and they take effort and that's why we don't do much with it. We don't create a good set of habits because it takes effort and effort at any point in time is something that we are skeptical of doing. So what I've done is I've taken the things that I've noticed on my journey and I've broken it down here so that you would be able to take, you'd be able to understand the different parts that go into building a habit, specifically in the context of running over here. So, the first thing is to get your intention right. Now, when I say intention, I mean that it's important to ask the why question. Why is it that you want to run? Is it that you want to be fit? Is it that you want to look better for yourself or for your partner or for someone else? Is it that you enjoy running in itself, which is a passion of yours or has your doctor advised you to do this so that you're in a better state of health? The important point over here, however, is that there is no right answer. There's only your answer. So don't obsess over the question. It's not important to get your answer to this question before you start building a habit or before you start running. You just ask the question and just observe where your thoughts guide you so that you know your sense of motivation is anchored from some place. So get your intention right. The second thing is to start small. Running a kilometer sounds hard because it is. Don't get me wrong. It's not easy by any means. I'm sure all of us would agree that irrespective of how much we've run, the first kilometer is always the hardest. And that shouldn't be your goal when you're starting off. Your goal can be something like setting aside 15 minutes every single day for six days a week and just walk. Nothing else. Don't over-exert. Don't do anything more than 15 minutes. Don't do something less than 15 minutes. Just take 15 minutes. Over six days that works out to I think about an hour and a half, which is less than a movie. And I'm sure we all watch a movie in a week at least given the current situations we might be. Once you've done this for six days, what comes next is the most important part of habit building, repetition. Repetition is at the heart of habit building. It's only when you repeat that your body and your mind starts to understand the kind and the nature of the activity that you're doing. So this 15-minute slot, while it might look small, it's basically trying to train your mind to that particular time slot. So your mind, once you start doing it, your mind recognizes the kind of activity that you're doing and it's only possible for you to do it via repetition. So repeat this whole thing until it feels second nature. You shouldn't be looking at the clock and going, oh, there's still two more minutes, oh, there's still three more minutes. So do it until it feels second nature. And for some people, it might take a few days. For some people, it might take a few weeks. But that's fine. It's a process in itself. Once you're comfortable with this 15-minute slot, modify it, add a challenge. Take the 15 minutes of walk and make it into a brisk walk. Alternatively, you could take that and make it into a 30-minute walk. So you either increase the time or the intensity that you're going. Whatever is your cup of tea, each one of us have a different preference. And then you repeat. Once you're comfortable with sweating and putting in that time at your own convenience, add a short run in there. I don't mean you have to run the entire slot. No, don't run the entire 15-minute or the 30-minute slot. No. What you can do is to take a five-minute slot out of that and then run for two minutes in that and then walk for three minutes. So by and large, what you're doing is majorly walking. And walking is something by that time you're already comfortable doing. So split your time up every day in those six days to include some runs and some walks and repeat this. Repeat it for a week or two, gradually increasing the amount of time that you run versus the amount of time that you walk. When you increase the challenge, you repeat. The idea is just that. You set a target, you do it, and you repeat. You modify the target, you add a challenge, run for longer, and you repeat. It's basically just that. The small increments is what matters the most. Once you've done this for a while and you've reached a point in that 15 to 30-minute slot where you're running more than you're walking, congratulations, you're a runner. There's a lot of gatekeeping that goes on in the running world. People tell you, a real runner does this. Or in order to be a runner, you have to do this. And I think that that's bogus, really. If you think you're a runner, you're a runner. That's good enough for me. There's no reason that there even needs to be an idea of gatekeeping in this community. But I've observed that there is in quite a lot of cases. So focus on yourself. And if you think that you are doing the right thing, then you are doing the right thing. The next thing is accountability. Irrespective of starting small, some days we can fail to keep the promise to ourselves. An accountability partner helps in this. This can be a friend who's as motivated as you who's in taking this activity up. Or it can be a coach. Or it can just be someone who's genuinely interested in your well-being. They can just be sounding boards. The important thing is for you to choose someone who's non-judgmental about what you are trying to achieve. Create a group with this person and use it only for publishing the work that you did on that day. Keep them motivated and seek motivation from them. Share your struggles and listen to theirs. It creates a very nice back and forth conversation where you feel the effort that you're putting in. The next thing is to keep it simple. I'll tell you what I mean. Smartwatches and smartphones are available in plenty today. They offer all kinds of metrics and numbers and whatnot. And there are promises of super cushioned shoes that will make your running easier. They're tempting, yes. But don't fall for any of them. Running doesn't need much equipment. Any pair of shoes would do. Something from your local sports store works the best when you're starting off. You really don't need to invest like four grand or something into your shoes. It really doesn't matter when you're starting off. Don't fall for the unnecessary fads of having a band to track your runs and investing in expensive shoes. They all add to the intimidation. Remember, I told you to start small. Part of starting small is to not intimidate yourself with all the kind of numbers that these things give you. Instead, run based on your body's feel. Listen to your own body before you start trusting a gadget. These numbers will be useful for you once you've made it a habit. But then when you're just getting started with it, they're only a distraction. Some days will be hard. The weather will be bad. You would have partied the previous night and had a few drinks. You might have a long assignment that day. The excuses that come up are innumerable. But if running is for you and you want it to be a part of you, then don't think of it as a chore that you can skip doing. Don't think of it, oh, I'll get back my time if I just don't do this. Instead, focus on what you'll get if you do it. Your day would be better. You would have already accomplished something right in the morning itself. If there's one piece of advice that's worked for everybody who has made themselves a runner, it's this. Get up, show up, and put in the time. Every single thing else will come with time. So it's really important for you to just make sure that you're there and put in the work. So if you've got to this point, then it means that you're a runner already. Oftentimes, when we're building habits and then they synergize with us, we tend to overdo them because there's so much fun. I totally get it. But I'll now give you the first and the most important tip in your time as a runner. Take it slow. Running is a high impact sport. So at any given point in time, your entire body weight is on one leg and that's a lot for your body to take. So you have to give your body some time for it to understand what you're putting it through. The key word in the previous sentence is time. There is no other secret sauce here. There's no magic shoe or piece of equipment that allows you to run more. The problem is that doing too much too fast has two major downsides. First, physically you can get injured. I've been there. I was doing a hill run on a trail surface where I overstepped my feet and then I tore my hamstring and I was out of order for about two and a half months. And that's really sucky because it's something you want to do but you can't do it because of the injury. Second, mentally you get burnt out because beyond a certain threshold point, running becomes entirely a mind game. Now it doesn't matter what kind of distance you're doing, whatever you're doing, there is definitely a threshold over there. So if you do too much too fast, your mind cannot keep up with what the body requires. This happened to me as well. I basically ran too much and then one day I just got fed up of running. I didn't even look at my shoes for two months. It's not something that I ever wanted to do because it just irked me out so much. And then I had to slowly build myself back up from scratch in order to find my love for it again. So what do you do then? Here are a few things that you can keep in mind. A good rule of thumb is to follow, is to increment your mileage by small percentages. So this is to say that if in the first week you're doing 10 kilometers of total mileage when you're starting off, the next week you up it by 20%. The week after that up it by another 20%. This will ensure that your body has ample time to catch up to the amount of increased workload that you're putting it. Make sure that you treat your body with respect so that it can give you back the performance that you need. Don't go on week four and then increase your mileage by an exorbitant amount. This is an absolute recipe for disaster. Always keep in mind to do small increments. Of course, the point here is that every single body is different and there's no one size fits all recipe to becoming a runner. Choose the percentage that's according to you. Just make sure that it's small increments. Don't just bring in a really large increment in there. Each one's metabolism and coping mechanism is different. Some of us just can catch up better to the effort that's being put in. So you choose the increment that you want but make sure to keep it as a smaller increment. The second is to listen to your body. Your body is an absolute incredible machine. Like runners will be one of the biggest people to vouch for this because of all the toil that they've put the body through. It's an absolutely incredible machine capable of so much of work but it knows what it wants the best. In your journey of running, learn to listen to your body. Pain is a very, very good indicator that you're doing something wrong. So pay heed to it. In my journey, I've noticed that there are two kinds of pains that I go through. There's perceived pain and then there's actual pain. Perceived pain is temporary. I call them excuses but it's not in a negative sense. This can be anything mental. Oh, the weather is so cozy today. I might as well enjoy 10 more minutes on the bed and as you know it, 10 minutes will become one hour and then you've lost your slot for running. It can even be perceived to be physical. When you're on a run, you'll suddenly start to think, oh, my legs are paining. I might as well stop. I walk the rest of the kilometer and then that rest of the kilometer becomes the next kilometer and then you end up walking all the way home. Or you stop the run there. These are illusions of pain that your mind creates. Your mind is not used to that much amount of effort. So there's a very nice quote that says, running is always a conversation between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part of your brain that wants to go on. That's all there is to it. So these kinds of things are perceived pains. Don't pay heed to them. On the flip side though, is actual pain. Actual pain is distress. They can be shooting pain in some part of your body. Your leg is buckling too many times. You're constantly out of breath. Or your body is just not in the right place for a run on that particular day. These are actual signals that your body is telling you to stop. Listen to those signals. Stop running or doing whatever it is that you're doing. It doesn't matter because if you go anything more than that, then you definitely are going to injure yourself. Although being able to identify which is which takes some time. There are chances for us to mistake one for the other. Sometimes we even end up making the mistake of thinking actual pain is perceived pain and still moving past it. That's when injuries happen. But it's a process. So keep at it. And I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out soon. There's a lot of belief going around that the more you work, the more results you'll get. And that's a hard no. In any form of learning, rest is mandatory for you to perform better. It gives you that amount of time to soak things in. Get a good amount of sleep. Sleep helps in repairing the muscles that you've used up in that day. It's actually a very, very fascinating thing. Your muscles build. Okay. And going by anatomy, your muscles are made of fibers. So if you think of each one of these as fibers, your muscles are held together this way. So what happens is when you do any work, your muscles start to tear and that's how the building actually happens. This tear in the muscle is what builds back strongly when you are in your REM cycle and sleep. And that's where the power of building the muscle comes from. It's because in sleep is when it actually rebuilds itself. So don't train seven days a week. Your body needs time to assimilate the amount of work that it's done in the past week. And believe me, that's a lot of work for the body when you're starting off. An alternative to the six-day thing that I said is if you are starting off with some kind of exercises or something like that, work for two days and then rest for a day. Then gradually you add more work days while retaining the one rest day. So you can go to three work days and then one rest day, three work days and then one rest day. Whatever is your convenience, but always retain that rest day. And my hat tip is that don't rest on a Monday because it's great to start your week off with a workout sweaty and absolutely ready. Of course, now there is no Monday, Sunday, whatever, but then I'm just saying in the general context that works for me. Which almost brings me to the end of these slides, but it also brings me to the second most important tip that I have as running becomes a part of you, which is to invest in strength training. Running is a whole-body exercise. Surprisingly enough, the power for your legs to a very large extent also comes from your upper body and your arms. It's called as the kinetic chain. A strong core and a well-cared for upper body can give you immense power to your legs. And that is something that you need to respect, but let's address the elephant in the room. It is absolutely boring to do and I get it. Strength training is boring. Running is fun because you're physically getting from place A to place B. So you're seeing people around you, you make acquaintances on the way. You start to see your animal friends on the way. I've had dogs run with me for, I don't know, seven, eight kilometers whenever I pass through that site. And there's a lot of incentive involved in running, but consider this. If running further, faster, stronger, and injury-free is on your mind, then there's sadly no other way to make those things, make you do those things better other than to invest in strength. You absolutely need the other parts of your body to catch up to the way your legs are performing. It doesn't have to be something extreme also. Simple stuff can get you a really long way. Dedicate about an hour and a half to two hours of work every week on strength and on your core. And I assure you things will get better. The relationship, however, is directly proportional. So the more you run, the more you have to do your strength work. This reminds me of one of my absolute idols in the ultra running field. There's a lady called Courtney DeWalter. One of the things that she's most known for is a race called the Moab 240, which is a 214 mile race in somewhere in the United States. And she finished the race 10 hours ahead of the next competitor. I'll let that sink in. 10 hours ahead of the next competitor. And the next competitor was a man. So that's the amount, that's how amazing she is when she runs. And I've seen many interviews with her and many people ask her, what is your secret? And I've never seen her giving a satisfactory answer because I really think that there is no secret. It's like in Kung Fu Panda where he opens the dragon scroll and then there's nothing in there. Everyone is a dragon warrior if you believe that you are one. That's all you need to do. You need to make the mind up to show up and put in the work. And that's all that is required. Everything else will follow with time. So I really like this quote also where he says, it's the classic nature of people though. We skip the basics. The basics is strength work and we get pissed when the sexy stuff doesn't work. All the sexy stuff happens only if the base is in place. So keep that in mind and invest on strength as early as you can. I know I've thrown a lot at you. So let's, I'll just take some time to quickly summarize on what we're doing. When you're building the habit, sensitivity is everything. Ask yourself the why question. Don't obsess over the question, just ponder on it. Start small, do not intimidate yourself. If you find something is intimidating, just cut that thing off. Everyone who you consider great started off where you currently are. And focus on your habit. Distractions are everywhere around us these days. Ditch your smart watch, don't buy expensive gear. Focus on the habit that you're trying to build. And put in the time. Don't give into excuses. It's very easy to give into excuses because there are so many your mind makes up an exorbitant amount of them. But you will thank yourself later for not paying heed to the excuses. On the flip side, when you're growing the habit and you're getting used to it, sustenance and growth becomes everything. Take it slow. Don't push yourself more than required. And remember that the habit will yield you more results in the longer run than it will in the shorter run. And play the long haul. The next is to listen to your body. If it already knows what you want and what you should be doing. Differentiate the signals that it sends out because even it can be a cheater. Know what you have to listen to. Rest well. Your muscles build in strength as you rest. So respect their time so that they can give you your time. Investing strength. Give the rest of the body the time it needs to catch up. The earlier you do this, the better it is. It's like creating a habit within a habit. You're trying to make running a habit and suddenly I'm here telling you to make strength also a habit. Yeah, inception. With that said, I'd love to leave you with this quote by James Clear. I'll read it out. So he says, all big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. The roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. The task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.