At this time of year, I start thinking about my impending birthday. It was 5 years ago that I started my journey to becoming a swimmer (and a triathlete).
This year, my journey continues, with various goals, including becoming a Personal Trainer.
What are you doing to unleash your inner beginner?
I’m really interested in Matthew Syed’s hypothesis that talent is a myth and that success is a consequence of purposeful practice.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bounce-Myth-Talent-Power-Practice/dp/0007350546
It is hard to summarise all of Syed’s arguments, but here are some of the elements that he says make someone successful (in sports):
Suggesting that talent is a myth means that no-one can say that they are not good at something because they were not born with a special ability. I find this to be motivational as it means that my success in life is (mainly) down to my own efforts, with only a bit of luck and genes thrown in.
What do you think of Syed’s hypothesis?
Mike Julien ©ironman.com
This week’s motivation is the inspirational story of Mike Julien who has battled cancer and completed an iron distance. Sadly, his triathlon days are now behind him, but that hasn’t stopped him – he has now moved on to running ultras. What an amazing guy!
This first article tells of Mike completing his first ironman after being diagnosed with cancer: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon-news/articles/2013/07/mike-julien.aspx#axzz362Rns08q
The second article is more recent and cover’s Mike’s story up until June 2014: http://www.triradar.com/triathlon-features/triathlon-inspiration-mike-julien/
I think Mike’s story reminds us of two things: firstly, don’t ignore niggles, get them checked out, and secondly, if someone with Mike’s health problems can continue to train, what excuse have you got for not training?
Dan Hyatt
This week’s motivation comes courtesy of Dan Hyatt, who managed to lose nearly 10 stone (135lbs) to put him on the path to a healthier life and much closer to his goal of becoming an ironman. You can read Dan’s story here:
The combination of powerful images, stirring music and emotive words in this video make it really inspirational. I’ve told Stuart that when I’ve completed Challenge Weymouth 70.3, I’m expecting a montage that is just as powerful!
Strength
Endurance
Determination
Speed
Risks
Limits
Power
Preparation
Pride
Perseverance
Courage
Persistence
Dedication
Attitude
Glory
There is no can’t, because this isn’t a sport for the weak-hearted, but for the strong-minded. Once you start, there is no backing down. We are triathletes.
Now married and a professional middle distance runner known as Heather Rae Kampf, Heather Dorniden is well-known on the internet for a 600m race back in 2008, where she fell, but got back up and went on to win the race. Many people in Heather’s position would have given up, but she was determined to finish the race and says that the sound of the crowd and the adrenaline that was pumping around her body were enough to help her to win the race.
What would it take to get you to finish a race if you had fallen?
Thanks to Chris at Dry2Tri for sharing this motivational video. I appreciate that it is a little cheesy, but it’s impossible to watch it and not feel inspired to do more and be more.
Here’s the transcript for those of you who don’t have 6:11 to spend watching it:
Motivational Speakers: Les Brown, Eric Thomas, Ray Lewis
Motivational Speaker One:
There will never be a point in your ti — in your life — where it’s the right time to do a great thing. If you’re waiting for that perfect perfect moment, that perfect timing, it’s not going to happen. You know what you have to do? You have to create the perfect time, and the perfect opportunity, and the perfect situation.
Motivational Speaker Two:
So a lot of people become comfortable. They stop growing, they stop wanting anything, they – they become satisfied. People getting ready to go to jobs that they don’t like, jobs that are making them sick. You see when you are not pursuing your goal, you are literally committing spiritual suicide. When you have some goal out here that you are stretching for and reaching for that takes you out of your comfort zone, you’ll find out some talents and abilities you have that you didn’t know you have. When the messenger of misery visits you, what are you going to do? What will keep you in the game.
Motivational Speaker One:
There are things that you think you’ll never need to know. That you may only need to know one time in your life, but that could save your life because you had that knowledge.
Motivational Speaker Two:
Unless you attempt to do something beyond that, which you’ve already mastered, you will never grow. What is it that you looked at, at some point in time and you decided that you couldn’t do it, that you talk yourself out of it.
Motivational Speaker One:
You’re waiting on your next door neighbor to make it happen for you, it may not happen. If you’re waiting on your mother, or your father, they may be so ancient in their thinking, that they don’t understand this opportunity that you have. And if you’re waiting on them it may never get done. You don’t beg average people to be phenomenal. You don’t beg good people to be phenomenal. You just are phenomenal, and you will attract phenomenal.
Motivational Speaker Two:
What reason can you remember, that you can call on, that you can reach on, that can make you get back up. Find that reason.
Motivational Speaker One:
If you’re not where you are. If you’re not where you want to be. If you don’t have what you want, want to have. If you’re not where you think you should be at this particular place. It has nothing to do with the system, but it has everything to do with the fact that you’re not making the sacrifice.
I want you to make that dream become a reality, because if you don’t, you will be working for somebody else to make their dreams become a reality.
And everybody is against you, or don’t believe in you no more. And let me tell you something, that’s a lonely feeling. That’s a lonely feeling. Particularly people that you are doing it for.
Most people take their greatness, take their ideas to the graveyard with them.
Listen to me, if it was easy, everybody would do it. There are people right now who are working who don’t want to work. There are people who hate their jobs, but they keep getting up to do it.
Motivational Speakers: Les Brown, Eric Thomas, Ray Lewis
The wealthiest place on the planet, is the graveyard. Because in the graveyard we will find inventions that we never ever were exposed to. Ideas, dreams, that never became reality. Hopes and aspirations that were never acted upon.
The question is what are you going to do with your time. What drives you. Greatness is a lot of small things done well. Day, after day. Workout after workout. Obedience after obedience. Day after day.
When things don’t work out for you. When things happen that you could not anticipate. What are the reasons that you can think of that can keep you strong.
You will never ever be successful, until you turn your pain into greatness, until you allow your pain to push you from where you are to push you to where you need to be. Stop running from your pain and embrace your pain. Your pain is going to be a part of your prize, a part of your product. I – I challenge you to push yourself.
See it’s easy to be on the bottom, it doesn’t take any effort to be a loser. It doesn’t take any motivation and any drive in order to stay down there on a low level. But it calls on everything in you. You have to harness your WILL to say I’m going to challenge myself.
I mean that what you did last week don’t count. Today today is the only important day. There are eighty-six thousand, four hundred seconds in a day and how you use those are critical. You got eighty-six thousand, four hundred today and what you do today is going to cement who you are. Nobody gonna talk about what you did last week.
Yet the biggest enemy you have to deal with is yourself. There’s an old African proverb that says “If there’s no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.”
You have this opportunity of a lifetime. It means absolutely nothing if you don’t take advantage of it in the lifetime of this opportunity.
I got a saying that: When life knocks you down, try to land on your back because if you can look up, you can get up.” If you want a thing bad enough to go out and fight for it, to work day and night for it, to give up your time and your peace and your sleep for it. If all that you dream and scheme is about it. And life seems useless and worthless without it.
See it’s time now. If you want to make this your decade, you’ve to start saying YES to your life. You’ve got to start saying yes to your dreams. YES to your unfolding future. YES to your potential. As opposed to saying no.
Motivational Speakers: Les Brown, Eric Thomas, Ray Lewis
When you die, die on E. Leave no dream left behind guys. Leave no opportunity left behind. When you leave this earth, accomplish every single thing you can accomplish.
Listen to me, you’re going to be here one day, but you’ll never get here if you give up, if you give in, if you quit. And finally guys, you gotta wanna succeed, as bad, as you wanna, breathe.
This video makes me want to cycle the L’Alpe d’Huez or run an ultra! Thanks for sharing the motivation, Sandra!
via Need Some Mojo?.
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Fat Girl to Ironman 