Finish What You StartFinish What You Start
Addict II Athlete Podcast
Coach Blu Robinson reflects on his team’s Provo City Half Marathon experience to explain how focus, action, self-discipline and persistence help people finish what they start. The episode connects athletic effort with sobriety, highlighting common psychological barriers and practical ways to follow through on goals.
45:32•9 May 2022
Finish What You Start: Focus, Grit and Sobriety on the Run
Episode Overview
- Finishing what you start relies on four parts working together: focus, self-discipline, action and persistence.
- Shifting attention from fear and scarcity to possibility changes both recovery and performance outcomes.
- Common blockers include setting vague or unrealistic goals, procrastination, temptations and poor time management.
- Psychological barriers such as laziness, fear of failure, perfectionism and lack of self-awareness quietly undermine progress.
- Following through builds trust with others and, most importantly, strengthens your relationship with yourself.
“"Stop thinking, just execute."”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of grit, sweat and sobriety as the Addict II Athlete community hits the Provo City Half Marathon. Coach Blu Robinson uses this milestone – and the team’s 11th anniversary – to talk about what it really means to "finish what you start" in recovery and in life. Rather than lecturing about willpower in the abstract, he grounds everything in what he watched his athletes do over 13.1 downhill-but-brutal miles.
New runners, full of nerves and self-doubt, show up at the start line wondering, "What if I can’t?" and end crossing the finish thinking, "I absolutely am going to." That shift, he suggests, is the same one needed for sobriety. Coach Blu breaks follow-through into four simple but demanding parts: focus (your head), action (your hands and feet), persistence (your heart), and self-discipline tying them together.
As he puts it, "Stop thinking, just execute," arguing that focus without movement is just daydreaming, while action without persistence fizzles at the first setback. He also calls out the familiar traps: poor time management dressed up as "I don’t have time", fear of failure, perfectionism, and that old "I’ll start on Monday" cycle.
With his usual mix of humour and straight talk, he reminds the team that "what you focus on, you will create" – whether that’s relapse or a medal at the finish line. This episode speaks directly to anyone who starts strong but struggles to follow through, whether on staying sober, getting fit, or simply keeping promises. It’s especially helpful for people in early recovery who need practical, concrete ways to build trust with themselves and others.
By the end, you’ll be left asking: what’s the one thing you’re finally ready to start – and actually finish?
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