Translating your learning

Being able to take what you have learnt from one area of your life and translate it into another area is a really useful way of gaining understanding of how you think and what you are capable of!

This is what I have learnt from Ultra running and how I translate it into my business and personal life!

1. Deal with the small stuff!

That voice niggling away in your ear - stop and listen to it - what might seem small and inconsequential now could end up driving you to distraction and using up valuable mental energy.

2. Know where you are

Navigating to where you want to be means understanding and knowing where you currently are.  Write out your plan and mentally bookmark where you are on it continuously.  If you lose your place you can go back to the last place you knew for definite and then go from there.

3. Enjoy the dark

Get comfortable with not having all the answers.  Things do not always go our way.  The ways you have of navigating where you are may not work so well in the dark.  Relax, let your senses guide you, know that it is always darkest before the dawn.  Enjoy the knowledge and different view of the world you get in the dark.

4. Know You

You are the only person with you every second of every day - get happy with that.  Greater self awareness and self management means greater flexibility in our thinking, feeling and actions in a constantly changing environment.  Make decisions that work towards your goal.

5. Its ok to slow down

Slowing down can make a big difference.  You can see clearly what is happening around you and gives you some time to recover your energy.  This isn't about ambling - stay purposeful and meaningful in your actions.  You are in charge of how you are in the world.

6. Its ok to stop!

Relentless pursuit of your goal can be draining emotionally, mentally and physically on you and others around you.  You will recover if you give yourself the chance.  Acknowledge the signs that you need to stop, eat, sleep... stop chasing others - you'll catch them up.  Tell yourself the positives of what you have done so far - ask for help from others if you need it.  Have patience and be gentle on yourself.  Start up slowly as you feel ready to move on.

7. Be in the moment

Rather than focusing on the end goal - break it down into chunks.  Focus on what's in your immediate control, enjoy the moment you are in knowing it is unique and taking you where you want to go.

8. Either / Or, or somewhere in between

It's easy to get caught up with the end goal and see it as either we are on our way to achieving it or not.  Take a step back - you're in this for the long journey.  Targets set at the beginning need to be reviewed as we go - be flexible about changes as they happen - give yourself the space to make changes and not letting yourself stress when the targets move - move with them, let them go, create new ones with the knowledge you have gained so far.

9. Be a part of where you are

Take stock and fully immerse yourself in the landscape around you.  Experience it fully through all your senses.  This is not about looking at it from afar but being part of it.

10. Be organised

Thinking back to 'Know You' - you know what might stop you so do something about it at the beginning - have a plan B, C, D... keep to hand the strategies that work for you .  If you've already thought about what might a problem further down the line then you can come up with ways round it - if it happens then you're ready to deal with it.  This is your life and it's going to be a long one - which means more moments to deal with, more choices to make.

11. What goes up must come down

Prepare for the hard work of going uphill and remember to enjoy the downhills.  Be mindful of the fact you can get a little out of control the faster you go downhill and are more likely to trip and fall here than on the up!  Be purposeful!

12. Whose rules?

This is your journey, your strategy, your goal.  You set the rules for you.  If it works for you it's right for you.  What works for others is right for them.  Experiment and learn from each thing you do and develop your strategy from there.  Be curious.

13. Just one of you

You are the only you that's in this world - your journey is unique to you - remember that.

14. Finish first

This means you have to get to the finish line - not that you have to be the first to the finish line!  Achieve your goal; get to the end of this particular journey.  When you've done that then you can look back at how you achieved it and take new knowledge forward into the next one!

*Special Promotion* - free copy of my book 'How to Thrive through Transition'

*Special Promotion*

As promised to celebrate my return to running after 2 months out with injury.

Book and confirm the 4 session package between 26th March - 8th April 2016 and receive a free signed copy of my book 'How to Thrive through Transition'.

The sessions can be used at any time during 2016 to fit in with your goals!

F.E.A.R. - False Evidence Appearing Real

“I’ve lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”

Mark Twain

I’ve had a few conversations over the last couple of weeks as people are coming out of winter training and are building up for their spring marathons and starting to worry about the long training runs that are planned.

I have to remind them that they are not doing that run today, that run is in the future.  We tend to focus on what’s going to happen and link it to where we are now and not where we will be then.  I find it helpful to get people to actually think back to where they were when they started and how far they have come.  Some are new runners, looking to do distances they’ve not done before, some are experienced athletes looking to run a new personal best.

It doesn’t matter which you are, the fear of not delivering what you are working for is the same.  If we start worrying about what we ‘may not’ do then this is the image, the movie that we are giving our brain to work on.  The brain is not interested in negatives and so thinks this is what you want and will do all it can to deliver it!  

What we need to do is visualise our success, make that the movie that we play to ourselves.  Keep that future movie with you during training, let it put a smile on your face when you’re looking at the next part of your training plan.  Then let yourself just think about the next training session, what do you want from that?  How do you want to feel?  What do you want to be saying to yourself to make sure it’s a positive experience?

Friends of mine took part in a 17 mile coastal run last weekend, in hail, high winds, having to scramble over parts of the route… not what you might think as a perfect training run… BUT as tough as it was it was a perfect mind training run.  The next run is unlikely to be that hard and however hard it gets pulling on these memories, how they worked together, knowing that they did it is what will make the difference – the mind can override the physical – can override the F.E.A.R.

If you want to get the most out of your training, you need to get your mind in it.  If you want to know more then you only have to ask!

“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” Arthur C Clarke

Small steps = Huge gains

Yesterday for the first time in 5 weeks I was able to stretch my broken arm out enough to turn the tap on the kitchen sink to fill the kettle… This may seem like a small thing to some, but to me it signifies a huge gain in the use of my arm, muscle control and a big pat on the back for staying patient and giving my arm the chance to heal in the time it needs.  I’ve started physio on the arm, walking and static bike at 5 weeks rather than the 8 I was originally told (although the physio did say most people with this type of break are about 85 years old – so the healing process is going to be quicker, before anyone thinks I’m trying to do too much too soon!)

Anyway, my small but significant victory of turning a tap on got me thinking back to marginal gains and how I work with people to help them find their own in order to give them ‘The EDGE’.

Whether you stand on a start line, go onto a field of play or walk onto a court, you want your opposition to know that you are in your best state mentally and physically and that you have ‘The EDGE’ over them.

Listen to any sports person these days and they do now talk about Positive Mental Attitude, about the psychological factors now involved.  Small steps for huge gains - these are opportunities to make changes, small but significant when added together.  The same applies to how we think, what we think and how we feel.

This is not always about turning negative thinking into neutral or positive thinking.  The hardest part of delivering as an athlete is when you have reached the top – staying there, keeping your focus when you have achieved what you set out to do, continuing to achieve, overcoming injury to comeback stronger.  All this while the rest are chasing to catch up and overtake you. 

This is what having ‘The EDGE’ is all about.  Staying at the top is not just about staying physically fit but also being mentally fit.

So if you want to be able to say ‘I have the EDGE’ then contact me to find out more.