Reaching the event date in your best condition or achieving an outstanding performance is a series of good decisions. These small good decisions build into best performance eg. packing your kit the night before, logging your workouts, good meal choices day after day, disciplined sleeptime, keeping in mind the purpose and best outcome of every workout - and prioritising training events to make sure they happen. For me it's a constant struggle to find the time for workouts. But - this is my choice and too often I'm choosing worklife over "real-life". If I prepared better and focused more I'd leave on time more often and gain a better life-balance. I need a constant reminder to make time for what I value.
So just how do we breakdown life into manageable short term goals and, day by day, "hold onto the dream" that leads us to those major landmarks in our lives ? While formal goal setting itself is critical you should also consider Affirmations as a tool. The "Queen" of affirmations seems to be someone called Louise L Hay. In her "I can do it" book she writes ...
"An affirmation is really anything you say and think. A lot of what we normally say and think is quite negative and and doesn't create good experiences for us. We have to retrain our thinking and speaking into positive patterns if we want to change our lives. Every thought you think and every word you speak is an affirmation. All of our self talk, our internal dialogue, is a stream of affirmations. You need to pay attention to your thoughts so that you can begin to eliminate the ones creating experiences you do not want in your life. However it's time for all of us to wake up and begin to consciously create our lives in away that pleases and supports us. "
This technique is perhaps under-used because it seems quite self-absorbed or at least self-indulgent. Perhaps a touch saccharine for inhibited UK Ango-Saxon types. Linda Wallenfels on trifuel.com writes ...
" Some people have difficulty with affirmations. They feel they are deceiving themselves when they make statements about something that may be true in the future, but is not true now. The Tao philosophy states, affirmations are not self-deception but self-direction".
Done properly affirmations can be a potent and constant reminder of why we do what we do and why it's important to us in the first place. To begin with the process of introspection actually helps us define what we value so we can put energy doing more of it. So time taken writing affirmations can help us to confront our existing choices and places our decisions into context.
Affirmations are positive statements that describe a desired situation, and which are repeated many times, in order to impress the subconscious mind and trigger it into positive action. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the affirmations, they have to be repeated with attention, conviction, interest and desire.
Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter writes :
Whenever you want to maximize your chances of getting the results you want, affirmations are one of the fastest ways to arrive there. If you want to create real changes in the way you train and compete, use affirmations to:
• Improve concentration
• Relax and sleep well
• Build self-confidence
• Accelerate learning of athletic skills
• Deal with fear and negativity
• Heal quickly from injuries
• Increase endurance and strength
• Train faster and lighter
There is an excellent (and free) podcast explaining affirmations from Bevan James Eyles - find it here to download. You'll also be able to find a PDF worksheet to work through on the site & it's great value for money & easy to access. Listen to the podcast then give yourself a clear afternoon to get maximum impact from the worksheet.
If you remain in any doubt that affirmations can work for you then think of the opposite effect ie. negative thoughts, negative attitude or negative speech. Remember the quote from Henry Ford : “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right.” We all recognise the danger of negative speech when dealing with family or work colleagues. If we are carelessly negative we so often lower the self-esteem, confidence and motivation of others - it's the same with our "self talk". You wouldn't talk yourself "down" ahead of an important athletic or social event would you ?
Affirmations help to talk ourselves "up". Livestrong.Com have an excellent summary article (here) which gives many examples of negative scripts and positive self-affirmations. Bevan James Eyles starts the process by asking us to think about inspirational quotes which already have meaning for us. We all have these sayings. They could be from any part of your life eg. a religous quote, Shakespeare, a family saying - the Simpsons even ! Something inspirational I read recently was from a talk given by Chrissie Wellington and relayed by Simon Ward -
Q. How many hours do you train each week Chrissie ?
A. 168
A 168 hour training week sums up Chrissie's attitude perfectly - every decison she makes throughout that week is related to her training and her training is designed to deliver the goals which are important to her. Ward writes :
There is the physiological training which probably occupies 25-35 hours per week but then even when she’s not engaged in these everything else she does is geared towards making these hours as productive as possible. For example – eating (which involves choosing the right food for refuelling and repair), stretching, relaxing, sleeping, planning) she admits to being anally retentive and obsessive but in my experience this could apply to most successful athletes in a range of sports and similar traits are shared by the most successful entrepreneurs and entertainers.
Other examples of quotes that might make it onto your worksheet :
- Be the change you want to see in the world
- Think Win Win
- Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
- Does it matter that it matters ? - Prioritize what is truely important.
- Focus on your strengths
- Ever tried ? Ever failed ? No Matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
- The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it.
Bevan's worksheet will guide you through a process that helps you identify the behaviours or habits that "work best" for you & which you want to do more often. These are habits that will help to deliver those big life goals and help eliminate "stuff" that gets in the way. In my own world it can be as simple as knowing that I'm at my best in the morning ; that I am more productive when I have a prioritized workplan for the day (set the day before) and that I feel at my best when I eat along paleo lines. Certainly I feel most alive and energized (and actually work better) on the days I complete a structured workout session. I also want to keep the main goals in sight to ensure I have the right context.
While Bevan is focused on getting you to explore, understand and write down your chosen affirmations (so you can refer to them daily) he also describes reading them while listening to a motivational song - some music that thrills or uplifts. It is possible to go a step further and select a playlist that you can use in the car on the way to work or even during an excercize . Endurance athletes spend so much time training that this is a great way to keep affirmations in your mind. Affirmations are dynamic and will change over time - they evolve as your life situation and your own goal-set changes. Review them every 3 months to keep them fresh. If you weave them around your own inspirational songs it can be a very powerful motivation. Take this example from Julie (running her 1st marathon in Oct):
Podsafe Playlist provided by MusicAlley.Com and featured ...
Hope is Calling, Fishing for Comets
Get Up & Go Out, Senor Happy
Happy, Jerico
See the Sun, Black Lab
Fly Fly Fly, Adrina Thorpe
One Million Dollar Theme, The Dead Rocks
You could download this from here. So what's on my PowerList ? That's a very personal question but since almost no-one will ever read this or get this far .... here goes my London 2012 Marathon list ...........
- Feeling Good, Nina Simone
- Don't need to justify this selection if you're a human being and alive you'll get it !
- I Like The Way You Move, Bodyrockers
- Upbeat, blood pumping, positive, the sheer joy of athletic movement
- River Deep, Mountain High, Glee or Tina Turner
- The joy of a life lived with Dearly Beloved (and a spooky puppy reference)
- Hot, Avril Lavigne
- A reflection on how just how lucky a guy can get (see above).
- Bohemian Like You, The Dandy Warhols
- Free, easy, original & carefree. Just like Tom (and a spooky cooking reference)
- Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, The Blues Brothers
- Mum, Sister, wider family & the amazing people I work, swim & train with
- Come as You Are, Beverley Knight
- Involve who I can when I can - no barriers to entry - infinite approachability
- Proud, Heather Small
- Keeping focused on the major goals but respecting the steps that get you there
- 100 Years, Five For Fighting
- Remember life is fragile and fleeting - make the most of every moment
- Right Here Right Now (Freemasons Remix), Fatboy Slim
- This moment is all there ever is - what can I do to make the best of this situation - Right Here, Right Now (remember brain training from DareToTriLife Book Club ?)
- Planetary (GO!), My Chemical Romance
- Hugely energiziing. You can achieve anything after this track. No limits. Let yourself loose on the world.
Get the idea ? Enjoy Julie's Affirmations - think this could work for you ? If you'd like help in setting up your own Affirmations PowerList I suggest you start with Bevan's podcast & worksheet (link above). Then scan YouTube for some motivational speechs / texts. Julie (above) used Steve Jobs and Lance Armstrong. There's loads of great content out there. Select your own "power songs" from your library and c'est fini. If you want help in doing any of this drop an Email to DareToTriLife@GMail.Com
Need more on Affirmations ? Try here ...
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