No, really. This post is about ME asking YOU a serious question. I can’t help you with this you see, because the answer to this question is uniquely yours. No one can give it to you, urge you toward an answer, or offer you a solution. The WHY you do things, anything, but especially this high performance athletic thing, is deep within you.
It’s important to know your WHY. Training is hard, there are as many bad days as good. Competing can be stressful, and sometimes you don’t get the results you want, and you need to go back to the drawing board so to speak. Life is busy, and complicated, and can sometimes get in the way of your athletic objectives. It’s essential to have access to the answer to “WHY am I doing this?”
So here are a few more questions to help you unearth and shine a light on your own special “WHY”:
- Why do you choose to play or compete?
- Why do you train so hard?
- Why do you stick with it?
- Why do you sacrifice for your sport, and what do you have to give up?
- Why do you train your mental toughness?
You might answer all of these questions with “because I want to be my best”, or “because I want to win”. But the magic is in the details, the nitty-gritty, fascinating things that keep high performers striving to be the best. Try these questions:
- What makes you get up in the morning?
- What feelings do you experience the moments before the starting gun goes off?
- What has you put in extra training time?
- What fuels you to reach for more, push a little harder?
- What do you feel when you’ve completed a workout?
- What do you tap into to push past fear? What does it feel like to conquer your fear?
- What resources to you need to grapple with failure? What does success mean to you?
Knowing your WHY will:
- Help motivate you
- Get you through the dark days
- Have you be more disciplined in scheduling your life
- Push you to reach for more
- Sustain you through injury
- Lend meaning to the repeats, the falls, the sweat and the tears
Most importantly, the WHY will elevate your successes, from simply a score in a competition, to something that fulfills you. Everyone has a story, I’d love to know yours.