Can You Be Better Than Your Best?

I thought I’d share a tidbit with all of you this morning, that has drawn some interest on Facebook…

An ironman triathlete I coach, in her unending quest to be a better athlete and achieve her (for now) ultimate goal of qualifying for Hawaii, asked a question on her Facebook wall, hoping that all of her friends might chime in with a “golden nugget” or two of wisdom, that would help her answer THE question.  And what was it that she posted?

“I am looking for a way to be better than my best.”

Ironically, we had discussed this topic in an email exchange prior to her posting this, but she was looking for more!  Yes, she is determined!  And I love that!

So, to get to the point, I read through a litany of responses from her friends, and was amused to read all of the things that had been posted, such as “try P90x,” or “dig deeper,” and even “let me know when you find the answer.”  At the end of a long string of responses, I posted a single word: “interesting”….

Of course, this athlete posted something which in hindsight, I should have expected: “Give me your thoughts, Coach!”

Since she had reached out and asked for more thoughts, I chimed in. Here’s what I posted on her wall; I hope you all find what I had to say valuable AND interesting, and I hope you find something which applies, as you ALL embark on your own hero’s journey….
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I found all of the comments your friends left, as quite interesting, that’s all. You work very hard, certainly as hard or harder than many athletes out there whom you’re competing with for a coveted Hawaii slot. “Digging deeper,” or trying some fad training program that is sold to the gullible masses, not as a way to “train” smarter as an athlete, but as some kind of magical “workout,” designed to carve a “six pack” and make you like yourself more when you look in the mirror, is NOT the answer. In my humble opinion, what you are looking for is a way to short circuit the “grind.” The process. And in my experience, that rarely – ever – works.

What it DOES often do, however, is cause us to be impatient, and look for an easier, or in your case, “better” way.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon how you look at it) it takes a long time to get good in this sport, and we ALL have our own unique adaptive abilities, which we aren’t in control of, as hard as that is to accept sometimes. Rather than look for ways to press on the gas pedal HARDER, why don’t you step back, and with respect to your LIFE, take your foot off the brake.

In other words, try to see if there is a way to enjoy the process, the grind, more, by not looking beyond the task at hand.

Look for more ways to balance your life away from the sport, and then what might be the hardest thing of all – accept that IF YOU continue to train smart, work hard, recover harder, and stay the course, that you will get where you want to go……because you will.

The “problem,” is that you don’t get to hand pick when that will be. Life isn’t like that.

Mental toughness isn’t just about gritting your teeth and hammering more…..it’s also about being focused on the task at hand, and not looking for any specific result from the process, EXCEPT for the process itself.

Smell the roses. Enjoy the grind. Be present. Learn every day, about yourself and about the sport. Accept that you CAN’T control much of the results of what you do, despite your desire to. And while you are working very hard, and recovering as hard as you work, just let everything else take care of itself…”

Article Source: http://pursuitathleticperformance.com/2015/can-you-be-better-than-your-best/
Photo Source: http://www.robertharding.com/