If I Could Tell My Younger Self:
Notes From Marie Clare Katigbak
Recently, I hopped on a plane to Chicago to participate in Hyrox, a fitness competition that alternates eight 1,000-meter runs with eight functional workouts – burpee broad jumps over 80 grueling meters, throwing a big weighted ball against an overhead target 100 times, and lunging back and forth with a heavy sandbag on my back, among other “fun” things. There’s absolutely nothing easy about this race — and that’s exactly why I did it.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t always been willing to take on challenges that push me out of my comfort zone; that open me up to the chance of “failing.”
Throughout my teens and most of my 20s, I stuck to activities that I was “good at.” I made goals that I knew I could hit with relative ease. All because I didn’t want to risk failure. I didn’t want to be less than perfect. It was a strategy that worked until it didn’t — when I made the difficult decision to get divorced just before my 30th birthday.
In the face of my first real and very public “failure”, I could have retreated into myself. I could have made choices that were safe, ones that didn’t ask too much of me. Instead, I chose to continue seeking more, to reach for opportunities that helped me discover better, braver versions of myself.
In my 30s, I trained for and ran the New York City marathon. I co-wrote a book with Bobbi while juggling the responsibilities of a full-time job as a senior copywriter. In my late 40s, I left the security of a very successful 24-year corporate job to launch my own brand strategy and creative consultancy. I signed with a modeling agency (and got to count Jones Road Beauty as one of my very first clients!).
So what have I learned? What has made a difference? Here’s what I would want my younger self to know:
Break a big goal into smaller goals. Any ambitious endeavor is going to feel overwhelming if you think about accomplishing it in one fell swoop. Instead, create specific sub-goals that you can tick off one at a time. While running the marathon, rather than focusing on the entire 26.2-mile course, I focused on the one mile ahead of me.
Reframe your setbacks. If something doesn’t go as planned, it doesn’t have to be a dead end. According to Akin Akman, my fitness coach and co-founder of AARMY, the word “fail” stands for “first attempt in learning”. Think about what you need to change in your approach, then try again (and again and again).
Find comfort in being uncomfortable. When facing something new or different, it’s natural to feel some level of discomfort. Acknowledge the feeling, then use it to motivate yourself to keep moving forward. During one of my first contract negotiations as a consultant, I worried that I’d lose the job if I asked for too much. Instead of backing down, I reminded myself of my worth and negotiated accordingly.
It’s these tactics (and a lot of sweat) that helped me push through to the finish at Hyrox in just over one and a half hours. As I write this, I’m still feeling pretty sore and have some bruised toenails to boot, but none of this compares to the feeling that “I did it.” Now the question is, “What’s next?”
Marie Clare Katigbak is a senior copywriter, editor, and strategic brand builder with 25 years of experience in the world of beauty, health, and wellness. She leads with clarity, precision, and a healthy sense of humor, always looking for the perfect way to tell the right story. Learn more at mckatigbak.com
Brava!!
Marie Clare Katigbak 🙌🙌🙌