As you go through your life and pursue your various goals, do you ever think about the preparation you’ll require? In order for your goals to be achieved there is usually a series of steps that you’ll take to ensure you conquer your quests. When it comes to achieving your fitness goals, it can be quite difficult to succeed without being mentally and physically prepared.
Your mind set or mental attitude becomes an important key to your success. No matter what your goal (to eat healthier, exercise three times per week, run a 5k race, run a full marathon or anything else), without the right mind set, achievement may not only be more difficult, but may take much longer than you expect…or in some cases never achieved.
How do you get mentally ready to pursue your goal? Some people visualize, some meditate and others “get into the zone”. Whatever method you go with, remember to focus on yourself. You make the difference and are in control of yourself. Don’t let the external pressures consume you. When things get too intense or you feel like you’re losing control, focus on your breathing. Come back to a relaxed state of mind and reset yourself. Remain positive and know that you can do whatever it is you are aiming for.
Once you are mentally prepared, the physical preparedness follows quite smoothly. Of course that isn’t to say that just because you’ve set your mind to running a half-marathon your body will simply be able to do it. Physically, your body now needs to be trained. While a Lamborghini can go from 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, our bodies are not built to be able to automatically run a half-marathon. We need to train and improve our level of fitness over time. For someone who has some experience running, they’d usually train for at least 12 weeks before their race.
We all have goals…some of them big, some of them small. Whatever your goal is, know that you can achieve it. Think positively, get into the right mind set and your body will follow. Whenever my students or clients say: “I can’t do it”…I always respond with the following:
“If you say you can’t do it, you never will.
Adjust your way of thinking and you will be able to achieve anything you want to”