The Starting Line is Harder Than the Finish: How to Stop Limiting Yourself

Author and marathoner Dr. William Thomas on breaking free from a "settled" life and achieving your personal Grand Slam.

What does it take to run a marathon on all seven continents and the North Pole? For Dr. William Thomas, it was about much more than athleticism; it was a masterclass in overcoming the mental barriers that hold us all back.

In this episode of The Author’s Voice with KAJ, we dive into the lessons from his book, Cross the Lines. Dr. Thomas started running at 42 and transformed his life, proving that the biggest obstacles aren't physical—they're the limits we place on ourselves. This conversation is essential for anyone who feels established in life but is quietly wondering, "Is there something more?"

Key Takeaways from the Episode

• The Hardest Part is Getting Started. The focus is always on the finish line, but just getting to the starting line—committing to a goal and making a plan—is often the most significant hurdle.

  
  

• Your Biggest Limits are Self-Imposed. While we all have real-world constraints, we frequently add voluntary, mental limitations based on a lack of confidence or listening to others' doubts.

  
  

• Embrace the Power of a "Do-Over." When his initial manuscript wasn't working, Dr. Thomas scrapped months of work and restructured the entire book—a powerful lesson in the courage to start over for a better outcome.

  
  

• A Marathon Mindset Applies Everywhere. The lessons of perseverance, planning, and mindset from his running journey directly translate to navigating career changes, starting a business, and pursuing personal goals.

  
  

A Moment of Clarity

"We all do have limits, but the limits may not be as strict as we think they are. And the biggest limits I have found are the ones we put on ourselves."

— Dr. William Thomas

Ready to Cross Your Own Lines?

This summary only scratches the surface of Dr. Thomas's profound insights on living a life without unnecessary limits.

Watch the full, inspiring conversation here: Author Spotlight: Dr. William Thomas – Cross the Lines | Author’s Voice with KAJ

Find his book, Cross the Lines: A Journey to Complete the Marathon Grand Slam, available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats.

---

Full Conversation Transcript (Unedited — Shared Exactly as It Happened)

Transcript:

(00:17) Welcome to this very special edition of the author's voice with KJ. A show where we explore the stories behind the stories. Here we dive into the worlds created by authors, discover their inspirations and ensure that you walk away enriched and inspired. And today we have with us author Dr. William Thomas. We'll talk about his journey.

(00:40) He started running at age 42, completed his first marathon nine months later and we'll talk about all those journey through him. We'll talk about his book, you know. Let's dive into his book straightway. Cross the lines, a journey to complete the marathon grand slam. Welcome to the show, Dr. William. Thanks so much.

(01:01) Looking forward to a great conversation today. Welcome, welcome back once again to the show. This time on the author's voice with KH. So first to understand itself you know your journey towards becoming an author itself means when people do a lot of things not everyone thinks of writing about it. Uh how did this thought come to your mind? How did you uh you know approach this thought of becoming an author? Well, you know, I used to write blogs back when blogs were a thing and and they have kind of faded a bit uh ever since social media has has sort of taken

(01:34) over. But, uh, a few years ago, I guess it was in 2015, I had completed marathons on all seven continents. I was getting ready to go to the North Pole to finish out the Grand Slam. And it was actually during a marathon here in Singapore when I started thinking about all the lessons I had learned uh and how they applied to my professional life, my personal life and so on.

(01:59) I remember thinking to myself, gosh, this would this would probably make a good blog entry. And then I thought, you know, it would make a few blog entries. And then I thought a little more as I continued running and I thought, this is a book. I think this is a book. And uh you know I've I've learned a lot over these years and over these experiences and and I' I'd like to share that with other people if they're interested and so I got started on the book soon thereafter and uh and finished it the next year.

(02:26) Absolutely. Absolutely. So let's come straight to the book itself. We'll talk about the book here. So let's get to the book. Here is the book cross the lines you know tell us a bit about how how did this book you talked about you know that you wanted to turn but this is not an easy thing to do but so finally it came about and uh so how how did uh you know this whole experience of getting your hands on your own book was I guess this is your first book Dr.

(02:59) It was yeah um I had written a doctoral dissertation for my PhD which is a booklength product but you know that's not something most people are going to want to read and this time around I needed to I needed to write in a way that people would not only enjoy it but would also take some lessons away from it.

(03:16) So it was a very different experience writing this book than it was writing a doctoral dissertation. Yeah absolutely. So in in let's talk about the what's in the book firstly the cover itself the title cross the lines a journey what what does this title mean and and and the picture I see who I I assume it's you but I just want to understand it better from you the reason the whole thought behind this particular cover sure well first of all to the title uh cross the lines the idea came about when talking with a friend and Uh, you know, when you're

(03:54) running a race, everybody tends to focus on the finish line. You know, that that's where you feel like, okay, I've achieved what I set out to do. That's usually where the biggest crowd is. That's where everybody cheers. That's where they give you the medal. But before you can ever get to the finish line, you've got to get to the starting line.

(04:12) And for a lot of people, that's even harder. You know, once you set out on a goal and have a plan, then you're on a track to achieve it. But if you don't even get started, then of course you'll you'll never achieve it. And sometimes it's the getting started that is the hardest part. So I wanted to emphasize in the book not just crossing these these finish lines all around the world, but also talk about what it took to get started and to maintain that motivation and to keep doing it despite all the changes going on in my life over those years. The cover itself, yeah,

(04:44) you're right. That is me. um that was taken in Antarctica. Uh that is running the Antarctic Ice Marathon in November of 2014. So 11 years ago uh gosh 11 years ago this week I guess. And uh that is being run on a glacier about a thousand kilometers from the South Pole. Uh two circuits of a of a 21.

(05:08) 1 kilometer loop. And uh yeah, I you know, one of the things about that experience that was so amazing for me is that we only had about 50 runners in that race and we were all pretty spread out and for the longest time I could be running and there would be nobody else around me. I mean, I could look off in the distance and I'd see mountains and I'd see snow and ice, but I wouldn't see another human being.

(05:31) And I wanted to capture that uh with this uh uh with this photo. It was taken by Mike King who was our photographer there with us in Antarctica and and I'm I love that picture and I've got it literally hanging as a poster in my home. So I wanted to be able to share that and hopefully uh attract people's interest with the with the cover.

(05:50) Yeah, absolutely. So what's in the book within the book those pages because uh it is about you but also it has to be about others that's why they will read it. That's why I want to understand what's within the pages in that book. Sure. So, it's a and it's a bit of a mix too. You know, if you tried to categorize it in a bookstore, would it go under sports? Would it go under biography? Would it go under travel? And and the answer is it would it would go in all three as well as I hope self-improvement.

(06:22) So what the book does is it begins with uh with sort of a background chapter just a little bit about my life prior to ever starting to run. Uh then I dive into a chapter on on 26.2 lessons learned from running marathons. And I I tried to identify some of the big lessons that I took away from this experience that I'm continue to take away because I I still continue to run and um and how they relate to again personal life, professional life uh and not just for me but ideally for others.

(06:54) The chapters after that each one covers a different continent. So, the idea behind the marathon grand slam is that you run a marathon on all seven continents and at the North Pole and it's the the North Pole part that trips a lot of people up. Uh it's one reason the number of people who've completed it is is relatively small.

(07:14) But, uh each chapter covers the next race, if you will, the next continent. And it also talks a bit about changes going on in my life. Uh changing careers, moving overseas, starting my own business, some of the challenges there. And the idea is for people to be able to read the book and see themselves in there.

(07:32) Uh see that it's not just about this guy doing a bunch of running, but it's about living your life, living it to its fullest, you know, reducing your limitations. And that's something that's relevant to everybody. Hopefully, not not just me. Yeah. Absolutely. So what were you hoping to achieve from this particular book and did you achieve that? Uh I I feel like I did and uh it comes back to me anecdotally.

(08:00) So what I wanted to do was inspire people to live the life that they want to lead. And it it doesn't have to be it doesn't have to be running marathons. You know that's not the point of the book to get people to go out and start running. It's instead to stop limiting yourself and stop letting others limit you and instead go out and live the life that you want to enjoy.

(08:24) So it could be inspiring people to to be in better shape and take care of their fitness and their health. It could be inspiring them to travel. It could be inspiring them to study, inspiring them to find that, you know, Mr. Right or Miss Right to to have the the wonderful relationship with. But the idea is to inspire people. And I've had again just some anecdotal points that have come back to me um just from people that I've met here in Asia who said that they've read the book and you know they started working out because of it or they started running because of it and

(08:55) and and that was very rewarding to me. One of the most one of the most fun examples of that came about last year. I was talking with a friend back in the United States, one of my friends from high school 40 years ago and he's an IT consultant in the US and he was talking with one of his clients and she mentioned that she was getting ready to run her first marathon and she was reading a book about marathons and he said, "Oh, this is a friend of mine wrote a book about running marathons all around the world and she looked at him

(09:23) and she said, "Is it William Thomas?" And here was this lady 10,000 miles away that I've never met who's reading my book. And it's it's helping motivate her to get out and do something that she always wanted to do but just hadn't done. And and I love that. I love that. Absolutely. Absolutely. Dr. William.

(09:44) So to understand it better, bookw writing is not so easy and especially for someone you know who do not have that you know uh that's not your full-time job. you were writing uh blogs and all. So, what were the what was the most challenging part of writing this particular book? I think the most challenging part was figuring out how to structure the story.

(10:09) There were points that I wanted to get across, but I wasn't really sure the best way to do that. And and one thing I discovered, and I think this is very important for any writer, is that it's important to be willing to put aside the work you've done and start over again. So, I was two or three chapters into the book when I started it, and I realized it wasn't coming across the way I wanted it to.

(10:35) Uh, it just it really wasn't telling a compelling story. It was it was it was chronological, but it wasn't it wasn't interesting. And so I went back and redid it as this, you know, one chapter for every continent idea. And that provided more structure for it, which I think is good for the reader, but frankly, as the author, it helped me organize my thoughts better.

(10:57) It helped me go back to old materials like blogs and journals that I'd written and find the right things to uh to put into each chapter. And and and I I do think what really helped was being able to just say, "I've worked on this for months, but I'm going to put aside all these these things that I've written, and I'm going to start again because it just isn't what I want it to be.

(11:20) " Absolutely. So, who is this uh book for, Dr. William? Who is this book for? Um, well, the easy answer, I would say, is it's for everybody, but it doesn't quite work that way, does it? Um, I I think this book is for people who are living their lives and are not sure that they're doing what they really want to do.

(11:49) And so, you know, for example, for me that this really came about, I guess, in my late 30s, my early 40s when I started thinking, gosh, there's got to be something more. So, if you think about it in terms of age, I feel like it's it's likely to be people who are not having a midlife crisis, but who are established in their lives.

(12:07) They have some stability in their lives, but they're wondering, is there something else? And so, that could easily be people in their late 20s, their 30s, into their 40s. Um, but at the end of the day, it's it's really for anybody who feels limited, either that they're limiting themselves or that they're letting other people limit them, and they want to break out of that.

(12:30) And and what I want people to see in this is that, you know, here's this middle-aged consultant, and if he can do this, well, then certainly I can do what I want to set out to do. And and so I think that's going to be for people who are a little more settled in their lives but maybe a little bit too settled and who want to have some adventures and experience something new.

(12:51) Absolutely. So Dr. William, in a nutshell, you know, what message, what key insight do you uh do you want readers of your book to take away with them? What I want them to take away is that you should try not to limit yourself. Um, and what I mean by that is, you know, and and there are some athletes that that that like to share the message that there are no limits and nothing is impossible and and while I love the sound of that, I don't really I don't really buy that.

(13:25) I mean, we all do have limits, but the limits may not be as strict as we think they are. And and the biggest limits I have found are the ones we put on ourselves. Either because we don't have the confidence to go out and have these new experiences and try these new things or because we let other people tell us we shouldn't do it and we internalize that and we believe that.

(13:50) So what I really want people to take away from this is you shouldn't put extra limitations on yourself. Okay? you you you may have physical limitations, your age, your fin your current financial circumstances may limit you, but but don't add to that voluntarily. You know, um while it may be the case that that there are things that are impossible, the group of things that are possible is a lot bigger than we realize and and there's no need to limit ourselves if we don't need to.

(14:24) Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So, Dr. William, this is one book. Uh, you know, any anything more books in the pipeline? Anything else that you are doing you want the world to know about? Um, so I have a couple projects going on. One is to try and do a second edition of this book. And what I would like to do is add a final chapter.

(14:46) So, this book was written a few years ago. And I put in the last chapter uh a set of things that I would still like to accomplish. Some of those I have accomplished and I' I'd like to share how that happened. Some of them I have not and and I think it's useful to share what went wrong there as well. And there were some other things that I had never planned on but uh but but that have happened.

(15:11) So for example, last year uh I ran a marathon on Mount Everest uh the Everest marathon, the highest altitude marathon in the world. that was never on my radar screen. Uh but it it came about and I'd like to share how that came about. So I think uh putting out a new edition of the book with a with another uh with with an extra chapter at the end I think would be would be is something that I want to do.

(15:33) The other thing I'm working on is more professionally related. It's uh it's a business book, a leadership book called Leading Like a Coach. And uh that is going slowly right now. But I am trying to take some of my experiences not only from my my athletic endeavors uh but also from my my military background uh from working in multiple countries around the world and uh and bring those together into a set of of useful lessons for for new leaders to uh to take on as they as they get out into uh into leading people in uh in their companies. Um, that's really where

(16:09) my writing is right now, but uh, who knows? You know, I never thought these were going to come along. So, who knows what else might be out there. Maybe it's time to try my hand at fiction. I don't know. Absolutely. Absolutely. Who knows? And and life is full of surprises. Life is too so much to, you know, if there is a will, there is a way.

(16:29) And, you know, so uh there's so much to learn about all this from you, Dr. Williams. And I'm sure a lot of people would want to connect with you, connect with uh learning about things from you from your book and also as you said new things you know professionally also in terms of leadership and all even for that what's the best way for them to do so.

(16:49) Um so a couple of ways uh one of course the book itself is available on Amazon so if you'd like to to have a chance to read that it's available both for Kindle and uh and in paperback. Um, in terms of other social media, uh, I have an athlete page on Facebook. Uh, you just look for Dr. William Thomas, Dr. William Thomas.

(17:10) Uh, and that'll take you to me. And I try to share not just my adventures, but also those of others, uh, whom I know and, uh, and try and share some of their experiences, too. So, it's not just this guy that you're listening to, it's it's others. Uh, and then on LinkedIn, uh, if you're thinking a little more professionally, a little more about leadership development, uh, just look for William Thomas, PhD, and you'll find me there.

(17:31) I'd love to connect with folks. I'm connected with people all around the world, from all different industries, and I learn so much from them, and uh, and that's for me is the value of the social media, both the Facebook and the LinkedIn. I hope I can share some things that are useful for others, but at the end of the day, I'm learning a ton from the people I meet there, and I I really value that.

(17:51) Absolutely. With this, it's a wrap on this very special edition of the author's voice with KJ. Thank you so much indeed for joining us. All right. Thanks so much for having me.