Your Inner Athlete: Taking Stock of the Year So Far

16 Mar Your Inner Athlete: Taking Stock of the Year So Far

Dr. Haley Perlus continues with tips about ways to empower “Your Inner Athlete.” This week, Haley suggests we stock of the year so far in order to achieve the goals we set on December 31, 2015. This reassessment and associated re-commitment should benefit your physical training. It could also alter (in a good way) the path you are now on in life. Ready, set, read.

Now that spring has sprung and summer is around the corner, often we find ourselves thinking back to New Year’s resolutions and all the well-intentioned goals we set for 2016. It’s actually the perfect time to take stock of the year so far: a moment of reflection when mid-year is fast approaching can help us to either maintain our motivation or get re-energized for staying in control and on track for our plan. Whether you’ve strayed from the original game plan, need to make a few course corrections, or deserve a proper pat on the back for following through, the questions below can act as a friendly challenge to propel you towards the results you want for the rest of the year.

As a quick reminder, goals work to focus our attention on the things that are most relevant to our health and performance. They also motivate us to develop effective strategies for success that require optimal effort and persistence. Often, regardless of the outcome, the process of working towards a specific goal builds confidence and lowers anxiety (Burton, 1989).

Proper evaluation and feedback about your progress is essential if goals are going to work as intended and help to create positive health behavioral change. As you work through the seven reflection questions, the more detailed you are, the easier it will be to identify positive and negative patters in your health behavior in order to make the adjustments necessary for your very next training session.

• What has been your greatest improvement so far in 2016?

Examples of improvements are increasing weight or repetitions for a specific exercise, completing the entire workout, moving up a level of performance, adhering to the rest requirements outlined in the training session, adhering to the weekly training schedule, mastering specific technique of an exercise, etc.

• Describe your most productive training session?

To the best of your ability, record the time of day, specific day of the week, location, type of training, etc.

• Describe your least productive training session?

To the best of your ability, record the time of day, specific day of the week, location, type of training, etc.

• What foods, pre-training songs, or additional aids have helped you to feel positive and full of energy for training? 

This is when journaling your preparation patterns comes in handy. If you have not been paying attention to the things you do prior to training, do your best to think back and write down a handful of tools you know work to get you in the right mood and physical state for training.

• What has been the greatest obstacle that has prevented you from staying committed to your goals for 2016?
  • What are one to three things you can take action on to overcome this obstacle?

As you reflect on this question, read your answers above as they may give you some insight and direction as to how to overcome your obstacle(s). For example, if your greatest obstacle is fatigue, look at what you wrote for question two and set a short-term goal to replicate that training experience this week.

• Are you afraid of something specific that may be preventing you from committing 100 percent to each training session and your ultimate 2016 goals?
  • If yes, what are you afraid of?
  • If yes, turn your fear into a challenge 

By changing some of the language in your self-talk, you can replace your fearful thoughts with challenges to conquer. For example, if you are afraid of not achieving your monthly goal, you can say to yourself, “It will be okay when I focus on journaling one accomplishment I had in training each day.”

• Write down at least three strengths you have discovered about yourself while pursuing your goals for 2016.

In order to wake up each day motivated to improve and achieve our 2016 goals, it is essential to highlight your strengths. It doesn’t matter if you have fallen short of some of your goals thus far or have made mistakes along the way. You have absolutely discovered personal strengths during your pursuit. Write them down and use them to fuel your desire to keep moving forward.

Burton, D. (1989). “Winning isn’t everything: Examining the impact of performance goals on college swimmers’ cognitions and performance. “The Sport Psychologist, 3, 105-132.

About Dr. Haley Perlus:

The event wears its name like a glove: “WOW.”  The acronym is a perfect fit for Becca Tudor’s awesome Weekend of Wellness, relatively new festival (the4th annual gathering takes place in early June 9 – 12, 2016) that celebrates overall fitness, including ways grow a spine, man up –  yoga, kettle bell, Pilates, cycling, kids’ classes – and also get educated about health trends in general through lectures by doctors, nutritionists, and renowned experts in the field of sports psychology. Experts such as Dr. Haley Perlus, a stand-out on a long list of superstar women featured at Telluride WOW, already a no-miss event if you are on a path towards personal transformation.

I attended Haley’s lecture about the psychology behind good nutrition and overall health. The holistic contents turned out to be a back door to ways to live a healthy life in general. We were all left wanting more from this buff, blonde brainiac, so Telluride Inside… and Out invited Haley to blog on our site. And lucky for us all, Haley agreed. 

BIO: With a Ph.D. in Sport and Exercise Psychology, M.S. in Sport Pedagogy, and numerous fitness and coaching certifications, Dr. Perlus is an expert at empowering athletes of all types and health enthusiasts achieve peak results. An adjunct professor at the University of Colorado, international speaker, former Alpine ski racer, appointed Industry Leader for IHRSA.org, and author, including soon-to-be-released “The One Minute Diet and Guidebook to Gold.”

Dr. Perlus helps people reach their highest standard of performance. For further information and a free chapter of one of her books, visit www.DrHaleyPerlus.com