101. How I Hate Running 6 Days a Week—And Why It Made Me a Cold Calling Machine

I hate running.

That's why I run 6 days a week.

Here's the crazy part: the same mental toughness that gets me through a 6-mile run at 5am transformed my cold calls. In 12 months, running didn't just quadruple my mileage—it revolutionised how I handle rejection, manage my time, and stay disciplined with prospecting.

At 45, I'm new to running. I'd run before—football training, basketball drills, and gym warm-ups. But I wasn't running for the sake of running.

My longest run before 1 January 2023? Four miles. Monthly total? Thirty miles.

The main reason? Dodgy knees.

At 6'5" and 200lbs, my joints had taken a beating from years of sports. Add an ACL reconstruction and Osgood-Schlatter disease, and every run was hard work.

It hurt. Bad.

Then two things happened in summer 2022:

Both blew my mind.

Two months later, I'd doubled my daily distance (from 3 miles to 6 miles) and monthly mileage (from 30 miles to 60 miles). By month three, I'd run a half-marathon.

Best of all? No knee pain.

In 2023, I went all-in:

The results blew my mind:

Here's the kicker: I went from 345 miles in 2022 to 1,345 miles in 2023.

This year? I crushed my first 250-mile month, and I'm now targeting over 2,000 total miles.

Everything.

Cold calling is brutal. Rejection hits you 50 times a day. Most people hate it because they fear rejection.

Running daily destroys that fear.

I face rejection every day. Old me would've quit. Runner me? I remembered mile 18 of my first marathon—my legs screaming, my lungs burning—and kept dialling.

Running has given me three superpowers for cold calling:

My morning routine:

Some mornings I wake up late. Tired. Unmotivated. I don't want to lace up my shoes.

I do it anyway.

My minimum viable dose: 3-mile run, 25 pull-ups, 50 push-ups, 50 squats, 50 flutter kicks. No excuses.

I apply the same iron discipline to cold calling.

My daily blocks: 10-11am and 2-3pm. Minimum goal: 50 dials.

Bad day? Shortened my schedule? I still hit my minimum: two 30-minute blocks, 30 dials.

Your move: Set your non-negotiable minimums. Bad days don't drop your standards—they reveal them.

Every morning at 5am, I face a choice:

Easy Now = Hard Later Hard Now = Easy Later

I choose hard.

I'd rather stay in bed for two more hours. That's the easy path. But easy won't build the endurance, energy, and mental toughness I need.

Every cold call requires massive resilience. I make 250+ calls weekly. That’s 250 opportunities for rejection. 50 daily chances for someone to crush my confidence.

But here's what running taught me: discomfort is temporary. Growth is permanent.

When a prospect says, "We're not interested," I hear my legs screaming at mile 20. When they hang up mid-sentence, I remember pushing through when my lungs felt like they'd explode.

Running builds armour against rejection.

Your move: Embrace the suck. Every "no" is training for the "yes" that changes everything.

Six days a week, my first 90 minutes look identical:

Wake up late? I adjust distance, not commitment. Fifteen minutes available? I'll crush two miles at a 6:15 pace.

Something beats nothing.

Flexibility maintains my consistency. It also reinforces a crucial truth: doing something is better than doing nothing.

I've transferred this approach to cold calling. Busy day? Shortened schedule? I still protect my calling blocks.

Your move: Schedule prospecting like you schedule important meetings. Protect that time like your income depends on it—because it does.

The runner who hated running taught the salesperson a powerful lesson: do hard things.

Your breakthrough isn't in your comfort zone. It's at 5am, in the cold, when every fibre screams, "Quit." It's on call 47 when your confidence is broken and your motivation is dead.

That's where champions are made.

Start tomorrow. Set your alarm. Choose hard.

Your future self (and your sales numbers) will thank you.

Mine went from 0 to £60,000/month in 18 months.

Thanks for reading!

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