The MOST IMPORTANT “muscle” to train that the majority forget… [3 steps to making it the STRONGEST “muscle” in your body]
Before I went into my biggest race last year, my coach had some words of wisdom for me…You’re perfectly trained for this. I KNOW you can PR this race. What it comes down to is your mental toughness. If you’re not mentally tough, you will ALWAYS get beat…OK, not her EXACT words, but words that have stuck with me ever since. Because, here’s the deal, we can have a perfect training season + be in the best shape of our life, but if we haven’t worked on our MINDSET, it’s going to be really hard to perform well.I have learned more + more lately just how NOT mentally tough I am. There are A LOT of things I do right in my life and I have a lot of things going for me, but I tend to overthink + underperform because of the things I am saying to myself.Just like you train for a race through quality running workouts, strength training, and proper nutrition (PS - the new + IMPROVED Elite Running Academy is officially OPEN if these are areas you need to work on as well), you absolutely MUST train your mind as well. Otherwise, all that physical work you have put in is going to be thrown out the window if you haven’t put the mental work in as well.Here are the 3 things you can do to improve your MENTAL SHAPE to help you improve your running + YOUR LIFE:
- Know your WHY. The REASON you do something should be the MOST important thing to remember and should drive every single daily action of your life. If you don’t have a WHY around what you are doing, then you are just wasting your time on things that don’t matter. What is the reason you wake up every morning to run? What is the reason behind starting your business? What is the DRIVING FORCE behind EVERYTHING you do every single day?
For me, it’s my kiddos. I run because it improves my mental health (hello, postpartum depression + anxiety), and if I didn’t have that time alone, I KNOW I am not a pleasant person to be around. I can’t be a good mom on the days where I’m thinking about how I haven’t run or WHY I haven’t run. It distracts me, so I know that by getting up and getting it done every morning will ensure that not only that I have time with my kiddos, but I am spending QUALITY, (mostly) distraction-free time with them too. I want to focus solely on them and not be distracted by other aspects of my life.My business is also because of them. I want to be able to pay for college for them. I want to be able to take them on fun trips. I want to allow them to live a worry free life as much as possible. I want to be able to spend more time with them. So, every time I am having a “down” moment in my business, I think about WHY I’m doing this and remember that their sweet faces mean EVERYTHING to me.
- Stop your inner critic. Sometimes it’s the OUTER critic that brings the inner critic out. Someone criticizes us for running so much, or showing up on live video as much as we are. And what happens? We let someone else’s opinions become OUR OWN opinions.
When you see these thoughts coming about, you need to realize them and STOP them in their tracks. Many times these come in the form of, “I can’t…”“I can’t keep this pace up for the next 3 miles…”“I can’t do what they’re doing…”Believe me, I’m still working on quieting my inner critic. But, we MUST quiet that voice inside of our heads telling us we’re not good enough, because we are not always going to get those outside affirmations. Tell yourself DAILY: You ARE capable; You ARE worthy; You ARE limitless!Which brings me to my last point…
- Create mantras and use them DAILY. I am constantly using matras during my runs. My favorite ones are…
“I feel good. I feel strong.” and “I am fearless.”But, what has really helped me lately has been mixing mantras into my daily life. I am LIMITLESS. I am CAPABLE. I am WORTHY. Like in #2, anytime I catch myself in thoughts of self-doubt, I tell myself one of these mantras. These help me keep pushing forward in my running, business, and life, and help me keep a positive outlook on every situation.Are YOU forgetting to train your mind as much as you train your body? What mantas can you add in to your daily life that will help you keep progressing in ALL ASPECTS?