Personal Motivational Phrases that push you to your triathlon performance limits
Most triathletes employ some mix of sports psychology tools – knowingly or unknowingly. Controlling our thoughts and mental focus can empower an athlete to reach higher levels of performance than less mentally disciplined athletes.
One of the powerful tools that I encourage is the use of Personal Motivational Phrases and self talk. These are one word or short phrases that stimulate emotion that encourage discipline, effort or focus when motivation is diminishing or low. These words or phrases should be repeated mentally or vocally, when needed, to reinforce optimal physical performance.
Examples:
- With the help of his coach Craig has determined that he needs to train at least 10 hrs per week to reach his goal of a 10 hour Ironman. Prior to the season he chose the phrase “10 equals 10″ to remind him of his minimum volume commitment. Craig is having a difficult time committing to his training volume goal but frequently repeats in his mind “10 equals 10″ to help him keep his focus on his commitment and desired outcome.
- Vivian is working hard this season to improve her running weakness to reach a personal best in a 70.3 event. She has committed to some challenging interval sessions that require her to push her run pace to levels she has never achieved. During her first run interval session she notes that she is frequently thinking “I can’t do this, I’ll never reach my goal”. Her coach encourages her to think of phrase that can she use to push out the negative thoughts as they occur. Vivian repeats the phrase “never say never” in her mind to push the negative thoughts out and finds that she is able to perform the workouts at a higher level.
Personal Motivational Phrases should be intensely personal. They can also be completely random words but should invoke deep motivation meaning for you. Whatever you choose as motivational phrases, they should help you see, feel and desire to achieve the goals that you’ve set.
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I’ve got to think of one for me… I can kick my own but in a quarter mile if I’m not careful… I rode 22 and ran 4-1/2 on Saturday and darn near quit in the first half mile because I “just wasn’t feeling it”. I ended up pushing through and turning in a fair time though it was a little below my new norm and I was exceptionally pleased that I did… But my phrases are decidedly negative and laced with explicatives. Great Post, thanks.
bgddyjim
January 9, 2012 at 6:09 PM
This is something I used “in the moment” in almost every competition playing squash in college. I love the idea of using it to motivate yourself to meet a weekly volume goal–it’s something I struggle with too.
Kelly S.
January 9, 2012 at 7:39 PM
[...] I read this post yesterday about Personal Motivational Phrases and it really kept my spirits up on my ride today. It kind of [...]
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