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Keeping your motivation over Christmas and the winter months…
Motivation is a very dynamic and fluid concept, it can be gained and lost in a moment and if a person learns to control and manage it they can regularly achieve many things in their life. Motivation is within all of us and drives us forward to achieve things in our lives, however small (joining a triathlon club) or big (achieving a sub 10 hour Ironman).At this time of year it becomes more valuable to be able to manage your motivation as the weather gets colder and wetter.
Here are my top tips for staying motivated at this time of year and in the spirit of Christmas!
On the first day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. get an online training program!
This is a great motivator. The last thing you need before you head out the door is to have to think about how you can make the most of the training session you are about to do. Let someone do this for you and it will be easier for you to feel that you are being productive and to enjoy your training sessions.
On the second day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. set short term goals!
Knowing there is an endpoint to achieving your goal helps you to remain focused on the task and stay motivated. Make goals at this time of year short term focused, a week or two weeks so that you can stay on track. Also make them enjoyable, for example a competition between you and friends on who can hold the plank for longest or reach 5 minutes first!
On the third day of Christmas thetrilife said to me….performance testing!
This is a great time of year to get some data on where you are and where you need to be, to achieve your overall season goals for the upcoming year. You then have time to change some of your training so that’s its more effective. Thetrilife.com put on some hugely valuable performance testing days, check out our website. This will definitely keep you motivated!
On the fourth day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. go and have some fun!
With all the elements against you, make sure you include training sessions that you are looking forward to i.e, do your favourite rides, stop at your favourite coffee shop, set fun challenges during your long rides, run with people who are fun to run with, try new training sessions out, try new kit out, dress up as Santa, train with your family, etc.
On the fifth day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. book a spring training camp!
Book onto our fantastic spring training camp. Have a date in the diary to look forward to. Book a camp where you know you will get quality training and quality coaching – more details here!
On the sixth day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. communicate!
To keep your spirits up and keep you focused, make sure you communicate with your coach, even if it’s a text here or an email there, your coach will always have something inspirational to say and can dig you out of any winter hole… well thetrilife.com coaches can!
On the seventh day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. reflect on your year!
This time of year is a great time to sit back and reflect on your previous year, what worked, what didn’t work, what did you learn. All this information is helpful in the journey of you becoming more successful next year and also in making sure you learn from any mistakes rather than repeating them! Take some time to do this and then go through it with your coach
On the eighth day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. reflect on your life balance!
Sometimes our lives can get out of kilter and we need time to reassess our priorities and what we want from our lives. Again this time of year is great for that – even over a glass of mulled wine. Take some time to list all the important things in your life, then put them in the order of the most important and then think whether you spend the most time at the top of the list or the bottom. This is always an interesting task to complete.
On the ninth day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. review your motivations!
At times, triathlon can become an all encompassing sport and therefore it is essential that you revisit what you enjoy about it and why you spend so much time training and competing. These motivations won’t be outcome focused, they will be more closer to home. Remind yourself of what they are and this will help you gain clarity over what you are doing in the next season and in all decisions that you make about training and racing.
On the tenth day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. reinforce and remind yourself!
Now that you have reminded yourself of your goals, use this information to help you stay motivated. Put reminders around the house, have trigger words, use pictures, songs, etc
On the eleventh day of Christmas thetrilife said to me…. use imagery!
As I have stated in previous newsletters, imagery is a very valuable and effective psychological skill that can help prepare your brain for what you want to happen or how you want to feel. It is the skill of mentally picturing a situation, event, image, with as much realism as possible, using all the senses (visual, auditory, olfactory, etc). Use imagery to enhance positive feelings maybe picturing successful races for example and you will be more motivated to train and race.
On the twelfth day of Christmas thetrilife said to me….spend time with your loved ones!
Christmas time is time to spend with family and friends, make sure this happens and it will bring a smile to your face.
We hope you have all had a very Merry Christmas and have a fabulous New Year!
