The bike is now used to take me out every day either morning, lunch time or evening… Who would have thought that the harder in cycling… is to seat on that saddle. But I have no choice, my bike is a tough boss with no space for doubt, as good as a robot!
A coach one day, always a coach, and indeed there is always something to learn, and always something positive.
Today I have a secret for you… it’s called motivation and let me tell you, it starts with action, and long vision… no way yesterday I would have had an hint of motivation for 2 hours cycling uphill, sour muscles and saddle pad, dry throat and windy road… if I had not had a long vision -and completely unchallenged by my short sighted eyes, thanks God. Of course it was the long vision of the satisfaction of having cycled the 120km -of the racing day with so many people around -the fun of wearing a hat with Irish Executives on top, though I still have no idea how that’s going to work.
It’s actually fascinating. Our motivation trigger is very much linked to the final results, however maintaining our motivation is so much about seeing only the journey, forgetting about the results. Paradoxes supporting each other!
Three tips to find the magic
1) Motivation starts with finding the right mental picture to trigger the movement. If we are doing the process of procrastination, we may simply still be looking for the right mental picture of what we are trying to do. The coach lesson? Pause for a moment, and assess what you are really after? Assess it with your five senses. Make sure you have a positive sensation with that mental picture, and make sure it goes toward something. Wait an inch and feel motivation kicking in, just like that.
2) Starting is the easy bit and is extremely quick… The triggers of our motivation are brief instants, brief emotions linked to our mental pictures. The trick is to maintain that motivation… For that we have feedback loops, and that feedback loop starts with an action, an action leading to an emotion. Indeed, emotions and motivation are two words of the same world, two words from the same Late Latin root, movere. The coach lesson? Take action, take action, and ensure you have an efficient feedback loop within your motivation strategy.
3) To keep the action going, better to forget about us and focus only on our surroundings… Better to be so much in the moment that it’s now effortlessly that we cycle. Yes, this is echoing an inch on the mindfulness side, or for those who knows it sounds a tat like ‘haptonomy,’ , or even meditation… I call it being in the moment. I call it focusing outside. I call it being uptime. For a moment you turn your attention so much to the outside that you know more about how many different birds are singing than how tired you are. The coach lesson? Once we got started, it’s all about the journey! Once we got started, forget the results and enjoy the journey! This is the fastest way to get there.
2 weeks and a half to go…
3 posts to go… 3 more ways to discover how to use self-coaching for sports training, building up your mental fitness with your physical strength, or using coaching for you or your team.
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