Wealth, Health, Happiness Interview Series: Greg Runs Far with Greg Nance

I’ve really enjoyed doing these wealth, health, and happiness interview series.  This most recent one is possibly my favorite to date.  I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing a fantastic, and inspiring human being Greg Nance (who has also become a friend).  Greg is an entrepreneur, an advocate for children’s mental health and addiction, and a world-renowned ultramarathoner. 

His story is inspiring and his mission in life is unbelievable.  This Summer Greg is heading out to run 3,000 miles, across America, to raise money and awareness for children’s addictions and mental health.  I, on the other hand, will attempt to run 3 times a week for 6-9 miles!  In all seriousness, Greg’s mission is altruistic and one I wish I could emulate.  You can follow his mission at his website www.gregrunsfar.com.

Now let’s turn our attention to how Greg and his accomplishments can help out all of us.  As he has set out 11 world running records for time and distance, once running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days, he has learned skills both physically and most importantly mentally that we could all use on our life’s journey.

Run Forrest Run

Let me start with Greg’s tips for running.  I honestly think these tips can be translated into life’s lessons, but more on that later.  I fancy myself a very novice runner, so I appreciate learning from the best in the world.  Don’t believe me?  This dude ran 133 miles the day before we spoke, and he is still alive to talk about it.

Tips for Running from Greg Nance

1. Tip 1- Start Small– Don’t worry about running 133 miles day one, or ever.  Rather get out there and do what you can.  Build on it each day and you’ll be amazed how far you can go.
2. Tip 2- Stay Consistent– Greg has run thousands of days in a row.  The key here is by staying consistent you will shape your legs, lungs, and mind to be able to stay in shape.
3. Tip 3- Short Strides– Seems counterintuitive a little bit I know.  That said, to prevent injury you really want to take shorter more condensed strides, not those long gazelle-like strides we all think will help.
4. Tip 4- Feet Under You– You want to keep your feet firmly under your body with quick turnover.  This will help keep your center of balance in a line and minimize injuries.
5. Tip 5- Dynamic Stretching– Before you run, and after, it is critical to warm your body up and down.  Greg is a big fan of what is called dynamic stretching.  Essentially it is taking your big joints, like ankles and knees, and doing a few minutes of circular rotations.  This gets the blood flowing and prevents injuries.

Life Lessons

Now someone as accomplished and determined as Greg is a person, we could all learn from.  I am on a constant learning journey and finding people that do things I know I can’t, in my mind, are some of the individuals I can learn most from.  In my interview and time getting to know Greg I asked him for other wealth, health, and happiness tips.  What you are about to read to me is absolute gold.

Core life fundamentals:

1. Embrace the suck– Huh what?  Greg has a life philosophy of embracing the suck.  Meaning – don’t shy away from the tough situations.  Instead, seek them out on your goals and journeys.  Big goals will have big obstacles, fact!  There will be setbacks and obstacles along the way.  If you aren’t prepared to face them head-on you are very likely to fail on your journey and be ill-prepared.  For Greg, he waits until it rains to go running (not hard in Seattle by the way).  Why?  Because when he is doing an ultramarathon you don’t get to ask the heavens for your ideal weather.  Instead, you are stuck running in whatever crappy weather is thrown at you.  While those who didn’t embrace the suck oftentimes fail to finish, Greg Nance has been preparing for this all his life.
2. Take care of yourself first– This is critical in running, but also in life.  If you aren’t the best version of yourself then you won’t have the best version of yourself to give to others.  A tired, out of shape, mentally beat down you gives that into the universe.  I’ve heard similar themes through many of the overachievers I’ve interviewed and I’m a firm believer in this notion.  Take care of yourself so you can give all of that wonderfulness to the universe.
3. The best team wins– Although Greg is basically doing solo competitions on the surface, there is an entire team of professionals behind the scenes helping him get there.  Doctors, nutritionists, coaches, therapists, etc.  The old saying it takes a village is accurate, and the question for you is do you want the best team or village in your corner or not?  Here at Diversified, LLC we pride ourselves in everything you need to achieve true happiness under one roof.  Easy to say we subscribe to this model as we’ve found our most successful clients are those that allow our team of industry-leading professionals to be their “best team”.
4. Follow your smile– Yea I freaking love this quote from Greg Nance.  This was the last tip he wanted us all to remember.  Take a moment to think about the things in life that really make you smile and happy.  Now go out and prioritize those things.  What you’ll find is there is magic in the momentum and hopefully, you’ll find yourself more content, fulfilled, and happy.  Thanks, Greg couldn’t have said it better myself!

Back to my biweekly 2 miles

Well, hopefully, you loved his interview and message as much as I did.  Great running, and life tips from a great guy doing fantastic things out there.  Greg really hits on the essence of wealth, health, and happiness which I absolutely love.  Until next week stay wealthy, healthy, and happy!

Follow Greg’s adventures on his website at www.gregrunsfar.com or keep up with him on Twitter and Instagram.