Living a happy and healthy life. Going beyond your comfort zone to grow and develop as an individual.
“Goals in life are never as far away as they seem. Take one step at a time, and you will realize every dream.”
Goal Setting
Having goals is key to knowing where you want to go and staying on the right path. Break the ‘big’ goal down into smaller ones.
(For me, my big goal is gold at the Rio Paralympics. My small goals include improving power efficiency through cornering on the bike and refining my run technique.)
Smaller goals allow for reflection and adaptation along the way toward reaching your ‘big’ goal. Be realistic. Things take time to develop, and results take time to appear. Consistency is key.
Keep progressing and focus on the process, not the outcome. If you don’t reach a goal as you initially planned, that’s okay. Take what you learned from the experience and move on. Do not dwell. Our ‘big’ goals may not take the path we planned, but persistence and hard work will get you there in the end.
Mindset, Mindfulness, and Meditation
I am a strong believer in the power of the mind. Your mind controls the body. Be kind to it. Allow yourself downtime and spoil yourself every now and then. Our environment and the people around us also shape who we are. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to be better, whether it’s in sports or another aspect of life.
Mindfulness is something we are hearing about everywhere these days. It provides valuable tools to assist you in staying focused and in the present moment.
Throughout my sporting life, I have used mindfulness techniques, which are a key component in ensuring the right mindset to perform at your best. Avoid the mindset of “I’m going to win,” as this already sets you up for failure. This mindset focuses only on the outcome, not the process that influences the outcome. If you don’t get the process right, chances are the outcome won’t be right either.
For me, the key elements are:
- Visualization
- Internal locus of control (controlling the ‘self’)
- Internal dialogue (positive self-talk)
Leading up to a race, I visualize the race environment and myself out competing. I focus on the technical aspects of the course and how I need to execute efficiently what has been done in training, on race day.
Pre-race and during the race, internal locus of control is critical. This is where I believe I can influence my own race and the outcome—not others. (External locus of control is when you rely on or blame outside forces, people, or situations for the race and/or outcome. Apart from a crash or other unfortunate events clearly out of your control, race your own race.)
This is where self-talk is critical too. Keeping your internal dialogue positive and motivating can be really hard at times, but it will get you through the race and hopefully push you when you really need to perform.
The Importance of Sleep
Adequate sleep is vital for the mind and body to adapt and recover, allowing you to back up training the next day. The benefits of sleep apply to everyone, not just athletes.
Sleep often goes underestimated. Going to bed early is one thing, but being able to fall asleep peacefully, without agitation or a racing mind, can be harder than it sounds. Everyone has many important things going on in their lives, but switching off and allowing the body to get sufficient sleep enables you to start fresh and ready to take on any physical challenge or key decisions the next day.
Worrying about things all night won’t help—it just makes everything seem even harder the next day.
People can find meditation hard. But it isn’t. There are some very user-friendly guided meditation apps available. I recommend The Mindfulness App or 1 Giant Mind.
