"You can steer yourself in any direction you choose." Dr. Seuss.
This was me, back in 1996 crossing the finish line of the Flora London Marathon. I had just been overtaken by a man wearing a daffodil costume and I was about to be over taken by a man twice my age (great for him, but not enormously encouraging for my own self esteem!) I swore at the end of this race, I would "NEVER, EVER, RUN AGAIN."
But 23 years on from this photo and I have got through more pairs of running shoes than you can imagine. Running has become my self belief time, my positive me time, my stress relief, my mountain time and it keeps me quite fit as well! And as a Online and Running Coach I encourage clients to take this approach as well.
The Power of Self Belief.
Self belief can be so powerful. I remember telling my Dad that I was going to run the Marathon des Sables. He looked shocked and worried at the same time; stating "you won't be able to do that." His doubting me fuelled me, together with the sudden death of a very close friend. So every run I did in my training, I thought of his words and my friend. I was 100% determined to complete the race and prove him wrong and complete this race for my friend. Having this drive and passion, not only helped focus me, but helped with my self belief.
Things, however, have not always gone quite right though. DNFing several races over the years, struggling with the fear of failing have allowed self doubt to trickle in. I have then found myself entrenched in "self limiting belief" where I become self defeatist and I happily sabotage "me" with negative thoughts and vocabulary, using the words "I think.....I will try....I am really slow....or even poor me".
How can we stop feeling like this then?
One barrier is vocabulary. I am working on flipping the negative words to "I will.....I can.......I am". This helps affirm a positive self belief. Our belief governs behaviour and habits. If I can start to alter these, then I am on my way to helping improving attitude, positive mindset and self belief.
Another hurdle is to actually put pen to paper and write down goals. A study by Dr Gail Matthews from Dominican University of California found that more than 70 percent of the participants who sent weekly updates to a friend reported successful goal achievement (completely accomplished their goal or were more than half way there) compared to 35 percent of those who kept their goals to themselves, without writing them down.
So what do you want? What are your dreams? I suggest you write these down, post it somewhere and proclaim it to others! You have unlimited possibilities!
Believe you can and you will.
UTMB 2020.........
