The Waiting Game: What Running 1,978 Days Taught Me About Controlling What Matters

The property portfolio was bleeding cash, and there was nothing I could do but wait.

Today marked day 1,978 of my daily running streak, another 10k closer to the 40,075km lap of the world that will raise £1M for children's causes. As my feet hit the pavement in my Vibram FiveFingers, I found myself wrestling with one of entrepreneurship's most challenging lessons: the waiting game.

I've spent the last few months upgrading our property portfolio, moving from housing basic tenants to attracting higher-calibre professionals. The logic was sound – better tenants, higher rents, improved long-term returns. But logic doesn't ease the anxiety of watching significant investment flow out while rental income sits at zero during the transition period.

Perhaps I moved too quickly. Perhaps I should have staggered the upgrades. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. The entrepreneur's mind loves to replay decisions, searching for the perfect strategy that never existed.

But here's what 1,978 consecutive days of running has taught me: there's a profound difference between what we can control and what we must simply endure.

During those early morning runs when my body wanted to quit, I learned that I couldn't control the weather, the distance ahead, or how my legs would feel on any given day. But I could control my response. I could control showing up. I could control putting one foot in front of the other.

The same principle applies to business waiting periods. I can't control how quickly tenants respond to viewings or when the right candidates will emerge. But I can control my cash flow forecasting. I can control the scenarios I run – one week, two weeks, four weeks of vacancy periods. I can control my contingency planning, including the decision to slow ongoing works if cash flow demands it.

The waiting game reveals our relationship with uncertainty. As humans, we're hardwired for immediate feedback. We want to know outcomes, control timelines, eliminate variables. But growth – whether in running endurance or business resilience – happens in the spaces between action and result.

On my runs, I've noticed that the most challenging moments aren't always the steepest hills or the longest distances. Often, they're the mental battles during the middle miles when progress feels invisible, when the destination seems impossibly far, when every step forward feels insignificant against the distance remaining.

Sound familiar? That's exactly what business waiting periods feel like.

With 20,295km still to run before completing my world lap, I'm intimately familiar with the psychology of long-term commitments. Some days, the finish line feels mythical. Some days, the children who will benefit from the £1M we're raising feel abstract. But consistency isn't built on feeling motivated – it's built on showing up regardless of how you feel.

The property situation forced me to practice what I preach about the 90/10 rule. Ten percent of life is what happens to you – market conditions, tenant responses, timing delays. Ninety percent is how you respond. That ninety percent is where your power lives.

During today's run, I mapped out three scenarios for the portfolio. Best case: tenants secured within two weeks, cash flow positive by month-end. Realistic case: four to six weeks, requiring careful expense management. Worst case: extended delays requiring significant works slowdown and deeper contingency activation.

Having these scenarios doesn't eliminate uncertainty, but it transforms anxiety into preparation. Instead of worrying about unknown outcomes, I'm planning for known possibilities.

The daily running streak has taught me that consistency matters more than intensity. In property investment, this translates to sustainable growth over aggressive expansion. In fundraising for children's causes, it means steady progress over dramatic campaigns. In personal resilience, it means building systems that work regardless of emotional state.

When you're in your own waiting game – whether it's job applications, investment returns, health results, or relationship outcomes – remember that the waiting itself is not wasted time. It's preparation time. It's character-building time. It's strategic planning time.

The children who will benefit from this £1M mission don't know my name yet. They don't know that someone is running 40,075km with them in mind. But they will benefit from the discipline built in moments like these, when the easy choice would be to panic or abandon the plan.

Today's run reminded me that progress isn't always visible in real-time. Some days, you run 10k and feel like you've barely moved toward your goal. Some days, you make business decisions with uncertain outcomes. Some days, you simply have to trust the process and control what you can.

Tomorrow I'll lace up again for day 1,979. The property portfolio will still be in transition. The £1M goal will still require 18,000+ more days of work. But I'll control my response, trust my systems, and keep moving forward.

That's how you win the waiting game – not by eliminating uncertainty, but by mastering your response to it.