Health Mistress
Diary of a Life CoachArchive for February, 2012
Believe in Better
Despite having prepared anally for a half marathon I was running last week, it felt like everything was against me. My car broke down three miles away 
from the venue, so I had to hitchhike. Having convinced a driver I was a runner, rather than a neon lycra clad axe murderer, to drop me off a mile away, I arrived with 5 minutes to go and the litre of water I had necked did not seem too happy about the 
mahusive queue at the unusually appealing portaloos. As I had left my partner dodging on-coming traffic in the lay-by I didn’t have anyone to look after my bag and take my warm top from me at the start. So I discharged everything I could at the bag tent and rushed to the start line…at which point I realised I still had my heavy jogging bottoms on over the top of my running tights, so promptly had to take these off and tie them to the finish line post. A couple of miles in I then had to remove my sweating running jacket and gloves and throw them to the edge in dramatic stripper stylee (without the sexy). With my wardrobe strewn everywhere, the race 
ground was now resembling a teenager’s bedroom, and then the wind hit. I could almost imagine a cartoon character grinning whilst pushing me back as I struggled my way round. At one point it took everything I had in me to stop myself from shouting out “oh just
**** off will you”, but I was afraid the man dressed head to toe in a sponge Lucozade bottle who had just nonchalantly overtaken me might think I was being a bad sport.
The point of my woeful tale, which I appreciate is starting to feel more like a marathon, is on its way. So I had thought that my PB (‘best time’ for those non runners out there) for a half marathon was 1 hour and 42 minutes. Therefore, my disappointment when I crossed the line at 1 hour 41 minutes and 45 seconds was understandable, after all I had given it my all and only shaved off a measly 15 seconds. However, it turned out later when I looked it up that my PB had in fact been 1 hour 46 minutes. So there are 2 things I learned here: I’d clearly come to believe my own lie which I’d perhaps created to impress someone, and so had convinced myself that I was 4 minutes faster than I was, which shows we can change our beliefs if we concentrate hard enough on them. More importantly though, I had gone against all odds to achieve a much faster time because I believed I could do it.
Now the mind boggles, if I had thought (or incorrectly boasted) that my PB was 99 minutes, would I have found an inner strength from somewhere to finish in that time? My jelly legs the next day would have probably screamed no, but what do they know?! Conversely, if I had thought it had taken me 2 hours, would I have bothered pushing through the pain so aggressively? I remember someone telling me once that life insurance salesmen rarely sell above the amount they would take out themselves. This goes to show that we decide what we are capable of, or worth and are limited to only strive that high. Just a simple shift in belief could see us reaching beyond our wildest dreams, whether it be a race, a job, earning potential, partner and even our own happiness. So take one thing, just a small thing to experiment on initially, and believe you can achieve more and see what happens. Remember that belief needs to be indefatigable, so keep telling yourself and anyone else who will listen that it’s fact, and fact it will become. 
The buck stops here
I think it’s safe to say that there is quite a strong blame culture in the UK; when we’re kids we blame our siblings, if we don’t live up to expectations our teachers are blamed (meanwhile they’re blaming lazy parents) and when you start work you find yourselves on both sides of the blade. The easiest one to blame is a partner – if your kid has big ears, there’s no need to look any further than dumbo lying next to you! At the moment though, not a day seems to go by without hearing someone passing the buck for the reason we are living in troubled times. Depending on which way you swing, the current government are crippling us, but then
some might say that their opponents left them in an impossible position. This was exacerbated by the bankers doing what they shouldn’t do – or were they just taking advantage of us as a greedy nation who wanted to have our Uggs and eat them? Or is it all just Ronald Macdonald’s fault? (Although after their recent emotional ad campaign, if I were pregnant I would definitely announce it to my family over a McChicken sandwich…) It gets a bit exhausting all this blaming though and really does it get us anywhere? 
I once met a man who blamed all his shortcomings and actions on his parents. Years of expensive therapy had brought him to the conclusion that he wasn’t to blame for anything, which was great, because he didn’t have to evaluate his own life because he had the perfect excuse for anything he fancied doing that might not be ethically right (personally I blame the therapist!).
If you blame your life away you are parting with the belief that you can change things for the better yourself, so you might as well give up now. To the contrary, decide that the buck stops here and suddenly you are empowered to really make a difference to your life.
So next time you find yourself blaming someone or something, take back that control. Ask yourself:
- What could I have done or done better to avoid or at least lesson the outcome?
- What will I do next time?
- What could I do now to make the situation better myself?
- Most importantly, what WILL I do right now?
Now go and do it!!!
Going for Olympic Goal
So it’s February and by now it’s likely that most New Year’s Resolutions have gone out the window along with the knitted jumper your granny bought you for Christmas. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions as even in their title they have a sell by date – couple that with the fact that every conversation about them ends with ‘it probably won’t last’ – it’s not surprising that like most quick fix diets they are short lived.
I actually think that February 1st is a great time to set goals that you have a much greater chance of achieving. Your Christmas pickled liver has begun to eliminate the snowball toxins, days are getting longer again and the last bit of Christmas cake has mysteriously disappeared (even though your New Year’s Resolution was to not eat cake!).
As it’s Olympic year, why not set a goal in line with what is likely to be a once in a lifetime experience for most of us? Now obviously I’m not suggesting that if you take up running in February that you will be pushing Paula Radcliffe out of the way on race day (well depends whether or not she 
remembers her SheWee this time), but trying something different, a sport which you can then follow at the Olympics will bring it alive for you, whilst introducing a bit of variety into your regime.
Here’s your guide to getting a Gold Medal for achievement in 2012:
- Go to http://www.london2012.com/sport to choose from a list of Olympic sports for you to try your hand at – choose something you have never experienced before (might be worth making sure it’s something you can actually do locally!)
- Start to follow someone who will be competing in that sport, so that you can really immerse yourself in the world of Olympic training (plus if you ever lose motivation you can get yourself going with the thought that there is someone else having to put a lot more effort in than you!)
- Set yourself a goal in that sport to achieve by the opening ceremony and make it as real to you as you can – visualise it, imagine yourself telling people about it, and how brilliant it will feel to watch your chosen competitor and to be able to understand a little of what they are going through.
- Put together a realistic schedule, starting off small, but with plenty of milestones to keep you going, and think of the ultimate reward to give yourself when you’ve achieved it!
- Now get out there and do it, and enjoy every minute of it, and if you lose motivation keep saying to yourself ‘I’m going for GOLD’!
