Robin Pomeroy is a seasoned triathlete with a large swimming background and currently swims with the MAC group that I coach. She has traveled all over the world to compete in triathlons and I asked her to be a guest Blogger for the day (you'll probably be hearing from her a couple of times).
If you've ever done a triathlon you know that they are no joke. Swim, bike, run, in sometimes what seems like impossible distances. This sport not only requires aerobic endurance and mental toughness, but efficient skills in very different movement forms (not to mention that transitions from one leg of the race to another is a difficult technique itself!).
I personally have done two triathlons (sprint triathlons - who'da thunk?!) but I know very little of the sport itself. All I know is these athletes are tough, driven, train insane, and don't skimp on the important facets that dictate their performances.
In this Blog, Robin talks about the importance of "Know Your Why," how having a purpose helps motivate and provide direction. If I was half the athlete Robin is, I'd be twice the athlete I am now, so read carefully and learn something today! Here is her post:
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Know your Why
What gets you out of bed in the morning? Sure, your alarm goes off and you press snooze 10x before finally you’ve reached the “latest possible time to get up”. But you made the choice to get out of bed and to start the day. You made the choice to go to practice. You made the choice to push hard in the last interval and race your teammate. These are all choices we make, but what is it that is driving you?
This is a complex question and could change daily (and it probably will), but it’s important to understand what drives you as a person to keep moving forward and knocking at your goals. When it gets tough your why is what will get you through - through the good times of course but also those hard and dark times. Everyone will face rough patches in life but it’s what we know that gets us through.
If you don’t know your why, this is a great time to start pondering it. What drives you to keep going? When you’re pushing hard at the end of a set, digging deep in the last 50 of your 200 fly, studying for an exam when it’s absolutely beautiful out and you want to do anything but study… that is when your why is going to be important.
As an adult athlete, I am driven by the desire to continue improving and to get the most out of myself. The tough days can be tough, but that’s what makes the good days that much better. There have been periods of my life where I have lost my why and I feel as though I just drifted through those times, not really living with a purpose. These can be the darkest times because you feel there is no end to the misery, but also that there is no purpose behind the suffering. So your why will help you not only in your sport, but also in life. Establishing it in swimming will really translate well to how you live your daily life outside of sport. Knowing your why will not make those painful sets go away, but it will give you a purpose for that suffering and help you push deeper and harder.
“Peak Performance” by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness (click the blue text to open the link) is a great book I encourage everyone to read. They talk on the power of purpose throughout the book: “Purpose fosters motivation; motivation lets us endure a greater perception of effort; and enduring a greater perception of effort often results in better performance.” In the last chapter, they discuss the importance of transcending ourselves when it comes to purpose (or our why): “When we concentrate deeply on something beyond ourselves, our ego is minimized. A large part of our ego’s role is to literally protect our ‘self.’ It is our ego that tells us to shut down and flee when faced with threats. When we transcend our ‘self’ and minimize our ego, however, we can overcome the fears, anxieties and physiological protective mechanisms that so often hold us back from achieving major breakthroughs.”
So.. What keeps your motivation high? What keeps you pushing hard when your heart rate is racing, your muscles are burning and all you want to do is stop and let the pain go away?
What is it that drives you to keep pushing hard, even when you fail?
Take 20 minutes today and write down what drives you to be the best you can be. You’ll be surprised at how motivating it can be.
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Thank you Robin for speaking on such an important topic. I highly encourage you all to follow Robin's advice. Take a few minutes today to write down your why. Understand your own why to the best of your ability and I promise you'll find a new form of intense motivation to Exceed Your Potential!
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