Our dreams, hope, aspirations and goals drive us forward and we are pretty dead in the water without them.
However, ask listen to any athlete or performer before they go into the match or onto the stage how confident they feel of a victory, and they will invariably say something along the lines of being confident that they have reached the right level of training and preparation.
You don't hear them say that
they 'hope' to win.
They are REALISTIC
They know where they are and what
they are capable of
Ask the person who doesn't win the competition, get the job or beat the other team what went wrong and will often change the direction to how the other team were better prepared, training has slipped or they were just unlucky.
I bet if they
were totally honest in that conversation before the match that they may even say that they knew they were unprepared!?
I know I've done this many times!
In all our health journeys we don't shift from A (unfit or healthy) to B (fit and healthy)
It goes more like:
A to B to C to (oh dear Xmas!)
B...
to (oops new job) to A..
...start again...
A to B to C to D to (pause for holiday) to E....all the
way to Z
We do, however kind of run through the following stages to some degree or other:
- Stage 1: Wobbly bit focus. I want to lose this belly etc
- Stage 2: Consistency challenged. I am seeing results however it's hard to keep going
- Stage 3: Muscles and joints. I am starting quite enjoy training and I feel so much stronger and I am moving
better
- Stage 4: Performance: I am stronger, faster and more athletic than I have ever been..my body is pretty amazing
- Stage 5: Athlete: I really now understand how training makes me perform
better..in turn I feel and look good
- Stage 6: Lifer: I train for the sake of training..its just what I do and it will be the one constant through all of life
Of course we will fleet in and out of all these stages, we humans are
always in a progression and that can be forwards and backwards.
No stage is better or worse than the other, and some of us will whizz through these whereas others will take their lifetime to get a couple of stages done.
Yet, where we should be is always ready for that next challenge when it's time to 'go' and not rely on hopes, aspirations or expectations.
When it's time to get on it..we have the right tools in the toolbox and fuel in the tank!
Performance and strength leads to independence well into old age..where do you want the level of your training to be at 80 years old...pretty high right?
Or, as the mighty Dan John says:
'train hard, live well for a long time...and then drop dead!'
Enjoy the transition through the stages and trust that you will move on to the next one with
consistency.
Habits form and break hard. Good ones and bad ones.
Hard effort to make a positive difference IS training.
You may not realise or appreciate it at the time but these monumental efforts give you that next level of training to fall back too!
The harder YOU have to work, the better the results!
J
