What Happens When Naivety Meets Determination
Hello,
Eight years ago, I made a decision that, looking back, teetered on the edge of boldness and naivety.
Over a glass of bubbles, I casually declared I would swim 10 km in open water.
At the time, I wasn’t a swimmer—sure, I was a sports person, but I’d only been swimming for a couple of years.
The longest distance I’d ever swum? Two kilometers.
But in that carefree moment, fueled by excitement and a little champagne, I thought...
“How hard could it be?”
My “training” was, let’s say, improvised.
No coach, no structured plan.
I pieced together advice from blogs, asked a few friends, and figured I’d just keep swimming a bit farther each time.
By the time the event rolled around, the longest distance I’d swum was 5 km.
I thought I was ready.
The Reality Check
Then came the big day.
From the moment I hit the water, it felt like a battle.
Halfway through, at the 5-km mark, reality hit me like a freight train: I had to double the longest distance I’d ever swum.
Double it!
My body felt like it was shutting down, and my mind started screaming for me to stop.
It was one of the hardest moments of my life.
Every stroke felt impossible.
I was freezing, exhausted, and desperate for it to be over.
At one point, I’m pretty sure I was hallucinating. At that very moment, I made a decision: there were only two possible outcomes.
“Either the rescue team would pull me out, or I was going to finish.”
The Aftermath
With sheer determination and the support of an amazing community cheering me on, I somehow made it.
But it took everything I had—physically and mentally.
It was messy, it was painful, and it was far from graceful.
And after crossing that finish line, I couldn’t swim for three months.
My body and my mind needed time to recover from the beating they took that day.
The Lesson
That swim taught me something that no book, blog, or advice could have prepared me for: the power of truly committing.
Not the half-hearted, “let’s see how it goes” kind of commitment, but the kind where you burn the bridges and leave yourself no option but to push forward.
Would I do it the same way again?
Probably not.
But here’s what I know for sure: it’s easy to dream about big goals when you’re sipping champagne.
It’s a lot harder to keep going when you’re in the middle of the cold, dark water, questioning why you ever started.
Your Challenge
So let me ask you:
What’s your version of that 10 km swim?
What’s the thing you keep saying you’ll do but haven’t truly committed to yet?
What would it look like if you removed every excuse and just decided to finish—no matter how hard it gets?
A few years later, I tackled another 10 km swim—but this time, I approached it completely differently.
That’s a story for another day.
The water’s cold, the swim’s long, but the reward?
It’s life-changing.
Talk soon,
Aitana
