I was talking with a friend and ACTiVATE Alum, Halima Aquino, this past weekend and marveling at her tales of having recently completed a sprint triathlon. Wow. I am in awe of all of you out there who have done that and I’m sure many have done more.

Since I can’t stand to run, much less swim in cold water, I had to ask her what compelled her to do this. I may have even had the “are you crazy?” look on my face when I did. The answer I received was unexpected but it makes sense. It is something many of us can relate to and possibly have done: she needed to cross the finish line.

You see, she’s working on starting up a new technology business (LilyPad Sensors) which tends to take longer and require more capital (i.e. MONEY) than many other businesses. She was frustrated because things were not happening as fast as she felt they should (they never do!), so she decided to take on another challenge: to participate in a sprint triathlon as only the second race in which she would ever compete in her adult 40-something life.

I starting thinking about it: there are so many similarities between starting a business and taking on a triathlon. There is a lot to do to get ready with intense training and preparation, execution takes a positive mind set, and it’s just not easy.

The one major difference and the key that compelled her to take on this new challenge is there’s a definite end. There is a set, knowable time in the future when she will be done. Unlike other goals that are not as neatly packaged (like starting a business!), she can gear up, prepare, execute, and then relish in her accomplishment within a finite, predictable period of time.

Taking on this physical endeavor and crossing the finish line actually gave her a boost in her business. She revitalized her energy and found new life in pushing ahead towards her goals.

Thinking about this made me realize that I took up juggling for the exact same reason without realizing it. OK, it is much less physically taxing than running for 5K, swimming 20K and biking for 750m (that’s 3.1 miles, 12.4 miles, and .5 miles respectively for us metric-less Americans) but the objective and the results were the same: taking on and accomplishing a finite goal, especially one that is a stretch for you, can help you regain new energy in reaching the finish line in whatever larger goals or tasks you have ahead of you.

When you find you’re getting frustrated in one area of your life, find something in another area of your life where you can be rejuvenated by that feeling of success. Whether it is learning a new skill (juggling!), running a marathon, or building a shed – success will re-ignite your passion and breed more success.

So what new projects have you taken on? If you’re feeling stale, what new endeavors are you going to take on??