I ran the Melbourne Half Marathon yesterday. I had over two hours of thinking time which I attempted to utilise effectively! It was tough concentrating at times, especially when soreness took my attention or people decades older than me passed me with limited grunting, however, I found a few blocks of time that I was able to concentrate.
The medal which reminds me of the achievement of my fitness performance goal.
Three thinking themes emerged:
Why do people do this run? What drives them to endure physical pain? Were they convinced by someone else or did they set the goal themselves? I planned earlier in the year to complete the Marathon which my running partner grabbed hold of and had us training for many months. We're both performance focused and it's our internal desire to challenge ourselves which see us entering in all these running events!
The BIG question for you is - do you know what drives you to enable you to create goals to fulfill your drive?
The second of my thoughts was what will I do next? What will I achieve, physically, in 2016? So I mapped out a plan to achieve the goal for three other running friends to complete the 2016 Oxfam 100km trailwalker. Hours later, we had a meeting to get this action planning running! No wasting time and it was good excuse to crack open a bottle of bubbles to celebrate.
The 2nd BIG question for you is - what physical/health goals do you have? (And did you have one for this year?)
Finally, while I ran I was concentrating on the voices which controlled my thinking and feelings. It was amazing how my pace changed dependent on 'who' was talking! Penny the Planner was great at identifying the next landmark to focus on whereas Wanda the Whinger was the one reminding me that my right glutes were in pain. Wise Wilma reminded me that I should be thankful that I'm not doing the Marathon and not to complain as the pain wouldn't compare!
And the 3rd BIG question for you is - which voices control you? Who makes things happen and who prevents you from getting things done?
Whilst you may not have the interest or inclination to put your body through hell, I do hope you are inspired to create time to think: to set goals, plan and implement. It doesn't come naturally for some and many just don't find the time.
If you want to know how I do it, let's connect. I have a super formula.