What is Your Why?
Any time you set a big goal for yourself, the road to achieve it can be a long one. The longer it takes, the easier it can be to stray off path or get frustrated along the way. When you take on a challenge with a long journey, it is important to have a strong “why” to keep your going throughout the process. Here are 4 steps to help you determine your why.
FOUR STEPS TO FINDING YOUR WHY
- What are you passionate about? This can be difficult to figure out, so you’ll need to do some soul searching. What makes you come alive? What are you excited about? What makes your eyes light up when someone brings up this topic in conversation? It could be a variety of things and they are all very individual and personal to each one of us. Figure out what that is and this is something that will keep you moving during the hard times during training and racing.
- What are your strengths? Now, this doesn’t simply mean which of the disciplines of triathlon are you strongest? It goes much deeper than that. Think bigger and deeper. Are you a strong motivator, so when you see a competitor pass you or you pass someone else, are you likely to give them a “thumbs up” or say, “Great job, keep it up?” Maybe you are a mentally strong person who can persevere when conditions get rough. Hone in on those and use them to build you up when you might feel like throwing in the towel.
- What made you start this journey? Now this one is something to never lose sight of. It can be easy to forget about what got you going in the first place, but if you can go back and remember how you felt, what you were thinking and why you actually decided to do your event (5K, triathlon, marathon, Spartan race, Ironman, it really makes no difference), this is a big thing that will keep you motivated time and time again. If you can identify that driving force that pushed you off the couch into participating, you will have something that will keep you moving through every hard workout and challenging event you encounter.
- How will you measure your success? Success is different for everyone and one type is not more important than the other. For some, the goal was simply getting to the starting line. For others, the goal can be just to finish. Then we have the overachievers who want to place in their Age Group or place in the top overall. It really doesn’t matter what success means to anyone else – what does it mean for YOU? Then you need to understand why that means success for you. We can take the middle-aged person who is overweight, out of shape and smokes – s/he decides to do something healthy for her/himself and family and sets out to train for a 5K. Whether s/he wins or finishes, when s/he gets to that starting line, s/he has made so many positive changes, s/he has already won. It’s important to focus on what success means to you and not what it means to those around you. For a top athlete, finishing a 5K can mean nothing more than an easy training day, but it doesn’t make that person any more special or important than the person that just transformed from couch potato to 5K finisher. Define what success means to YOU!
Sometimes, an objective voice can be helpful in determining your why. If you need help in finding your why or help with your training or racing, please contact me.
Train Right, Tri Right!
Coach MJ
