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Some time ago, one of my coaches taught me a phrase that has stayed with me ever since: "the last breath."

In running, it is that moment when you have already covered most of the distance, your legs feel heavy, fatigue starts to take over, and you feel like there is not much left to give. But when you realize the finish line is close, somehow you find a reserve you didn't know you still had. Not necessarily because you suddenly have more energy, but because you know you are almost there-and you decide to give a little more.

Today, in September, that phrase comes back to my mind. 2026 is entering its final stretch. It has been a year of work, projects, decisions, successes, mistakes, and probably more than a few moments when we felt we had already given everything we had.

But we haven't reached the finish line yet.

Maybe this is the moment to find our last breath. That extra effort to finish a project, honor a commitment, reach a pending goal, or simply close the year knowing we gave everything we could.

Because in a race, the final miles are not always the easiest, but they are often the ones we remember the most.

There is still a race to run. And we still have one last breath.

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Francisco J. Tapia Guerrero
ftapia@qualitascertification.com
www.linkedin.com/in/franktapiaguerrero
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Francisco, the part of that which rings true for me is that the reserve is not physical, it is a decision. I see the same thing in the last hour of a long audit, when everyone is tired and the easy option is to write up what you already have and go home, and the finding that actually changes something usually comes from the question you nearly did not ask. It shows up too with people partway through their auditor training, at the point where the novelty has worn off and the certification still feels a long way out. What carries them through is almost never more energy, it is moving the finish line close enough to see. Thanks for the reminder, and good luck with your own last stretch of the year.

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Dilawar Laghari
Auditor, Consultant and Trainer
Audit Workshop
https://auditworkshop.com/
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Dilawar and Francisco,

First, in my forties, I ran marathons, 50 K cross country ski races, and 100-mile bike races and admit I experienced everything that Francisco said.  My experience in what you guys described in your audits, I mostly experienced in accreditation audits where at the end of the audit, I had to say that we had argued enough and if they did not agree with my findings, they could file an appeal.  I felt like saying that since I often chaired the ANAB appeals panels, good luck with that, but I didn't say that.  But I did agree that I was exhausted from some of those audits.  Anyway, just a side note on your conversation.

Chris

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Chris Spire
MSIA Associates, LLC
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-15-2026 11:37 PM
From: Dilawar Laghari
Subject: The last breath... 2026!

Francisco, the part of that which rings true for me is that the reserve is not physical, it is a decision. I see the same thing in the last hour of a long audit, when everyone is tired and the easy option is to write up what you already have and go home, and the finding that actually changes something usually comes from the question you nearly did not ask. It shows up too with people partway through their auditor training, at the point where the novelty has worn off and the certification still feels a long way out. What carries them through is almost never more energy, it is moving the finish line close enough to see. Thanks for the reminder, and good luck with your own last stretch of the year.

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Dilawar Laghari
Auditor, Consultant and Trainer
Audit Workshop
https://auditworkshop.com/
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Chris, the moment in an accreditation audit where you say we have argued enough and the appeal route is there sounds like its own kind of final mile to me. Knowing when to stop debating and let the process take it from there is a skill nobody really teaches, and holding back that last line about chairing the appeals panel shows plenty of it.

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Dilawar Laghari
Auditor, Consultant and Trainer
Audit Workshop
https://auditworkshop.com/
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2026 03:57 PM
From: Chris Spire
Subject: The last breath... 2026!

Dilawar and Francisco,

First, in my forties, I ran marathons, 50 K cross country ski races, and 100-mile bike races and admit I experienced everything that Francisco said.  My experience in what you guys described in your audits, I mostly experienced in accreditation audits where at the end of the audit, I had to say that we had argued enough and if they did not agree with my findings, they could file an appeal.  I felt like saying that since I often chaired the ANAB appeals panels, good luck with that, but I didn't say that.  But I did agree that I was exhausted from some of those audits.  Anyway, just a side note on your conversation.

Chris

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Chris Spire
MSIA Associates, LLC
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-15-2026 11:37 PM
From: Dilawar Laghari
Subject: The last breath... 2026!

Francisco, the part of that which rings true for me is that the reserve is not physical, it is a decision. I see the same thing in the last hour of a long audit, when everyone is tired and the easy option is to write up what you already have and go home, and the finding that actually changes something usually comes from the question you nearly did not ask. It shows up too with people partway through their auditor training, at the point where the novelty has worn off and the certification still feels a long way out. What carries them through is almost never more energy, it is moving the finish line close enough to see. Thanks for the reminder, and good luck with your own last stretch of the year.

------------------------------
Dilawar Laghari
Auditor, Consultant and Trainer
Audit Workshop
https://auditworkshop.com/
------------------------------

Francisco, I really like the idea of "the last breath," particularly because it is not simply about working harder when we are tired.

In management and continuous improvement, I have often found that the final stretch requires something slightly different: clarity.

At the beginning of a project, we usually have energy, plans, meetings and many priorities. Near the end, the real challenge is deciding what still matters, what must be completed, and what we should deliberately stop carrying with us.

I see the same thing in organizations. Sometimes the greatest progress does not come from adding another initiative, procedure or action plan, but from identifying the one unresolved issue that is preventing everything else from moving forward.

So perhaps the "last breath" is not only the energy to take one more step. It is also the clarity to know which step deserves to be the next one.

Thank you, Francisco. A timely thought as we move through the final months of 2026.

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Ahmed Rashidy Abdo

Founder & Managing Director | Quality For All (QFA)
https://qfaplus.com
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