This being the last week of the year it is natural to feel reflective on the year that was. Giving yourself some alone time to reflect can make a big difference. As you reflect here are a few things to consider;
- 10 Highlights (accomplishments, best memories personal, chool, swimming)
- 5 Disappointments (failures, missed opportunities)
- 3 Game Changers (unexpected things that happened to change your priorities)
- 3 Areas of Focus (what you spent most of your time on)
- 3 things you forgot (what you did not get around to)
All of us had missed opportunities throughout 2017, and now is the time to reflect, become a little more self aware of ourselves and our surroundings in 2018. As we move forward into the new year my focus here will be on your swimming.
Throughout your swimming you will always have questions that will cross your mind, but are you asking the RIGHT questions at the RIGHT time?
Great swims are built during our training sessions. Each day gives you an opportunity to develop the results that you want to see on race day. The question you need to ask yourself is what is the focus of the day? What am I trying to improve on during this set?
How hard am I actually training? We all have biases that can be sneaky, stinky little things that can convince us we are working harder than we actually are. They can convince us that we have made more practices than we really did. They can also convince us that we are taking care of the things away from the pool that will help you such as proper sleep, nutrition, hydration and staying on top of our school work. Sometimes it is good to “unplug” for a couple of minutes at the end of the day and write down a few notes to yourself. Yes a small diary of your day.
Do You keep your focus on things that You can control? Fact is that swimming is a competitive sport, performed with other swimmers competitively in a pool. What that means is that at some point the way you swim is measured up against how others swim. We often allow ourselves to get lost in this comparison often to the point of sabotaging your performance. Obsessing on how other swimmers are training and performing can either boost our motivation and light a fire, or it can be the kindling of our own anxiety. Next time you catch yourself getting bent out of shape from something out of your control, step back and think right foot, left foot, breathe and refocus on something you can control such as;
- preparation
- Technique
- Warm up/ warm down
- Pre race rotation
- Training
- Nutrition
- Sleep
- hydration
Is my attitude positive or negative and how is it affecting my training/racing? It’s very easy to stay positive when things are going right, but the real attitude and character will be reflected in the moments of adversity.. At this moment the world will see the real you! It can manifest itself whenever you’ve had a bad race, or training session, maybe a DQ. It can also manifest itself when you are exhausted and the last thing that you want to do is head back to the pool for a set of 200’s pace work.
Am I setting a standard for others to follow? Not all of us are cheerleaders, but we can still lead by example. How you ask? Be the one to complete the set correctly even if the coach is not watching. Keep track of reps and intervals. Don’t give up when it gets tough or interval is hard. Help with the equipment. Leadership is not about being the fastest or giving speeches. The most powerful form of leadership is through action and example. This type of leadership has another side benefit by encouraging others to rise to your level. You are creating a culture that promotes success for everyone including yourself.
❄️ TIC ❄️ TAC ❄️ SWIMMING❄️
| Write down a positive note!😃 | Finish what you start!🏁 | Nutrition; make your plate a rainbow!🌈 |
| Own up to your hangups! | Be the first in at practice! | Help the younger swimmers! A Hello is great! |
| Chase Mastery! | Create trigger words for when your caught in the middle of a storm | Lead a lane at Practice!🏊🏼♀️ |
HAPPY NEW YEAR. MIKE
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