TRAIN YOUR BRAIN ☺
Give your mind a success workout as well as your body
with Karen Darke
LESSON 1 : Your Quest?
There are times in life when we face a goal or a challenge that seems daunting. It may feel beyond our capabilities in its magnitude or difficulty. A challenge, whether we choose it or whether it ‘appears’, is a gift in itself: we have something to stretch us, help us grow stronger (physically, mentally and emotionally), and a focus to work on. Our challenge may be so immediate or so compelling that it feels we have no choice. It is going to take us on a journey. It becomes our ‘Quest’.
This Quest could be anything but it will take you on an adventure – a journey with an unknown outcome – and that may feel scary but you could also see it as exciting. Many of us connected with The Adventure Syndicate find ourselves with ‘Quests’ connected to riding bikes (or maybe your current challenge is not being able to ride your bike for some reason)! It is likely you already have a ‘Quest’, or are considering setting yourself one. Maybe you’ve already begun your physical training…but are you doing anything to help your brain get you there too?
A sports psychologist once asked me what percentage of performance I might assign to mental attitude versus physical form. “80% physical, 20% mental” I mused, and for a while I wondered what was the ‘answer.’ Apparently, Ranulph Fiennes attributes his success in climbing Mount Everest at age 65 to being 90% positive mental attitude and 10% physical ability. There is, of course, no right answer – it must be different for each of us and will vary from day to day. Yet there is no doubt that if we go into any situation thinking we’re going to fail, or that we are the underdog, we probably will do / be just that. Maintaining a positive mental attitude at all times is a vital ingredient of success, and having a clear goal and knowing why you are doing it, are two essential ingredients to help your brain get off to a good start!
So, what are you aiming for? What is your ‘Quest’?!
Write it down…make it as specific as you can.
e.g. I want to take a bike-packing journey from A to B; I want to cycle 500 miles in a month; I want to compete in my first race; I want to manage my injury and look after myself well…
The hardest of challenges can be so much easier when we have decided we are up for taking it on.
DECIDE – COMMIT - SUCCEED
In order to get off the fence and fully commit, a useful question to ask yourself is “WHY am I doing this?”
2. What is your motivation?
Write it down. It may take a little time to really find what your motivation is, but play around with it, until you find the description that nails it for you. It might help to ask yourself What change do I want to see? Maybe you want to get the ‘current’ you, to a ‘new’ you with a change in your health, mindset, abilities, performance, or any other reason.
e.g. I’m doing this so I can feel more confident about myself; I’m doing this to give myself some regular exercise /to help me lose weight / to get time out from the normal routine and demands of my life…
When you find your motivation, you know what is driving you, you have meaning and purpose, and that makes it much easier to get yourself into the saddle, or off to the gym at whatever time of day that might be! Finding our inner meaning drives us to accomplish things we might think impossible. Connecting with inner meaning makes it much more likely we will accomplish our ‘Quest’. It might help you to get a few words together that remind you of why you are on the journey you are on.
CREATE A MOTIVATION MANTRA
3. What could your motivation mantra be?
It might help to write your mantra somewhere you see it a lot. Maybe make it a password for things, write it on a sticky on your fridge or make it a screensaver on your phone…whatever works to regularly remind you.
e.g. my mantra in bike training this year is “Happy, Healthy, High” to remind me to stay balanced with my training, so that I am not over-trained, feel healthy and still aim for high performance.
Once we start working to a purpose like this it can feel like there is some magic going on and unforeseen things start to happen that help us towards our goal. I love the quote:
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now." (Goethe)
Decide on your quest, and connect to your motivation then begin. With meaning, purpose and a motivation mantra as your allies, you’ll enjoy the journey.
Just like you pack a toolkit for repairing punctures or mechanicals on your bike, it will be helpful to go equipped with a ‘brain toolkit’ to assist you in accomplishing your Quest. Over the coming months, Karen will be writing series of articles to help you succeed in whatever your goals. You can also join a ‘Train Your Brain’ workshop September 18-20th in Scotland, so look out for that if you fancy some real-person time with Karen and other TAS members to help you along your journey.
Karen has 10 years experience as a professional athlete, an MA in Development Training, a Masters in Sports Psychology and High Performance Coaching & is a qualified Performance Coach & Hypnotherapist.