6 Days Away: Getting Mentally Strong Is More Important Than Physically
By admin
Anyone that has ever raced or participated in a sporting event of any kind can tell you, it’s around 10% ability and 90% mental.
We’ve all seen the best athletes fall apart during a game.
Anyone watch golf? Okay, probably not many of you and it’s okay to calll me crazy, but I LOVE watching golf on television. Most people compare it to watching grass grow, or paint dry, but I personally love it.
Anyways, I remember watching Rory McIlroy play in the masters a few years ago (2011).
For days he had been playing beautifully. Yes, golf is a sport that can be played beautifully (just not by me). He was leading the tournament and then it happened… during the final match on Sunday, he lost it. A triple bogie at #10 was just the beginning of his downward spiral.
He had started the day with a 4 shot lead and finished tied for 15th.
You don’t have to know anything about golf to know that hurt.
You also don’t have to know much about Rory to know that he didn’t forget out to play the sport during the last 8 holes. His skill level was the same, his abilities were there.
He let the match get to his head.
”Whether You Think You Can Or You Think You Can’t… You’re Right”
This is one of my favorite quotes. It’s so true. Too often we give up before we ever try.
How many times have you gone into something thinking you can’t accomplish it? There is a good chance that you didn’t. And if you did, it was likely because you had some sort of support system pushing you and fighting your “can’t feelings”.
That’s if you actually do give it a go…
I think we can all agree that when we’re trying something new and faced with a challenge, it’s easier to just not try than to say we failed.
Failure is a hard pill to swallow but let’s face it…
…is not trying at all any better? Is it more glorified? Is it more accepted? More Fulfilling?
NO!
Not trying doesn’t enrich our lives in anyway. Refusing to try leaves us in a stalemate, with cement shoes. We don’t move forward, we’re frozen. Results, goals, progress, dreams… all unobtainable.
The Power Of Can’t
When clients walk through my gym’s doors, I tell them from the get go… “I won’t have you do something that I don’t think you can do.”
Meaning that there is no reason for the word ‘can’t’ to ever be said in my gym. And if it is?
There are consequences. I make my clients say, no, shout, “I CAN DO THIS”. It’s motivating and by the end they have a look of surprise and satisfaction as they reach levels in their workouts they never thought possible.
Of course there are times when no matter how hard you work you won’t be able to do something, but at least you tried. And just because you can’t do it today doesn’t mean you can’t do it tomorrow or a month from now.
Case and point…
LINDA (seen below furthest on the right)
Linda is an amazing client and lady. When she started coming to boot camp, she wasn’t the strongest or the fastest but she gave every rep her all.
If it took most people 2 minutes to do 50 squats, it would take her 5 minutes because she would make sure each rep was done perfectly. It’s this strive for perfection and her can do attitude that has made her one of the strongest athletes in our studio.
Each day, she would walk straight to the pull-up bar. Each day she would try to complete a single rep. Each day she would fail.
After about 9 months of this, guess what? She succeeded at her pull-up.
It was a can-do attitude that made it happen. If she had tried and just given up her strength would never have increased and her rep would have never happened.
Don’t Let Your Mind Fudge Up Your Game
With the biggest race of my life (so far) less than a week away, my mind is all over the place.
–> Excited.
–> Scared.
–> Anxious.
Above is a rough drawing of the elevation course map from RD Shawn!
Just the other day, Dan told me, “I think you’ll do okay if you don’t let your crazy mind get in the way. You let your mind get you down too fast sometimes in races.”
He’s right.
I’m an all positive or all negative person. I’ve had amazing races where I was on top of the world from start to finish.
I’ve had bad races, really bad races, where I wanted to drop out after the first mile.
As long as I don’t get into the “Why did I think I could do this?” and the “I can’t compete with these people” mentality, I should be okay. But that’s hard!
It’s hard to stay positive when things get tough and it’s hard not to fall apart like Rory. What makes the top athletes the best is their ability to keep cool and keep moving forward.
Being aware of my ability to “go mental” is key for me because I am able to start concentrating on a more positive mindset before the big event. Building myself up now so that I don’t break down up there.
- Positive mantras… every day, multiple times a day give yourself a pep talk. It’s not weird, it’s helpful. The more you tell yourself “I CAN” the more your brain beliefs it.
- Ask yourself “Why Not”? Why can’t I do this? If you’re lost for words, that’s a sign you can.
- Work for it. I’ve trained hard for the past 12 weeks, my body has been prepped and I have to trust it. No matter what your goals are, set a training map. Don’t train? Then don’t be surprised when you fail.
- Have a strong support system. Of course Dan is my #1 cheerleader but because he’ll be on the mountain too, my mom will be there to cheer us on and be our crew!If you have any Negative Nancy’s in your life, get rid of them. There should be no one breaking you down!
- One step at a a time. Instead of looking at the overall project, break it up into more manageable smaller ones that seem less intimidating. With the race, we have 3 giant climbs, instead of look at this as a 31 mile race, it’s one climb at a time.
- And finally… BREATH. Realize that to move ahead, you have to challenge yourself. It’s going to be hard, but take a deep breath and take one step at a time.
What I love about this post is that it’s fitting for all faucets of life. Work, fitness, weight loss, nutrition, family, etc.
We’re challenged all the time, or at least we have the opportunity to be.
So let me ask…