I know there is a lot written for this blog post but it is the final one so let lets finish up strong.
On my way to school this morning I drove next to a car with a Yeah Bro sticker on their car, which not only put a huge smile on my face but also made my day. To most of you it is just a sticker but to me it is my first legacy. Yeah Bro is a downhill mountain bike competition that I created at Sun Peaks when I was working there as the Assistant Event Coordinator almost three years ago. Instead giving out big ugly trophies that are only good for collecting dust, we gave out stickers of the race name so riders could put on their bikes to show off their participation in the race and support the event. All participants got white stickers and those who placed top three got gold, silver and bronze ones. When I ran it, it was a fun competition where everyone was cheering each other on and everyone took home a prize. I found out earlier this year that they held the 3annual Yeah Bro this past summer. So I have my first legacyJ
So training has been good but slow this week. I made it to 11 miles on my Sunday run on the outdoor track. Three more miles to go to hit the half marathon distance mark and then I just have to make it come comfortably. I was a bit late for swimming on Monday but still got in a 2.25km swim. I throw my hip out of alignment on Tuesday and spent Wednesday morning in physio and met up with a trainer to work more on creating that new program. I ended up taking it easy Wednesday and just passing around a football with a friend and taking some on him in the soccer net. It was so much fun to just play around in the sun like a little kid. Thursday I did a new crazy leg stability workout that I am still sore from and trained a friend in the evening. I love training people, pushing them to their limit and helping them realize that they are able to achieve more than they thought.
This passion to assist others training incorporated with everything I’ve learnt through this study has got me thinking about continuing my education onto completing masters in Sport Psychology or another degree possibly. This is kinda a scary thought for me because I’ve already devoted so much time to my current studies that I am just finishing. It’s not that I don’t enjoy tourism or what I’ve learnt while completing my Sport Event Management Diploma, part of a Surf Studies Diploma and a Bachelor of Tourism Management, it’s more that it’s adding to the knowledge I’ve already acquired. It’s almost like I am craving to live in a state of self actualization, helping other people become all that they can be. My parents were very positive people growing up. My dad taught my brother and me to, “Try to touch the heart of every person you meet in a positive way.” So it’s got me thinking maybe this is what I am suppose to do.
I am always learning something new and which constantly evolves my personality, my values and where my future is headed. Who I wanted to be 5 years ago or even last year is not the person I want to be not now or in my future. So the question is who do you really want to be?
When I was young my teachers use to ask us, what role model we wanted to be? It was taught in the school system that who we wanted to become was suppose to mean duplicating and completing with an existing persons success. I have caught myself many of times saying I want her stomach, her legs, his attitude, etc but that also portrays that what I have isn’t enough. The more I did this to myself the lower my confidence got. I was unhappy in my own skin and was looking at the wrong things to fix the problem such as image. Yet no matter what I did I wasn’t able to see beauty when I looked in the mirror. This dissatisfaction was more than skin deep it went to my core and I’ve had to learn its true origin to find happiness in who I am. It is only when you come to terms with your true strength and weaknesses that you can really decide where it is you want to grow.
ACTIVITY ONE: WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE?
I would like you to have another look at your goals and after reading the following three paragraphs reflect on them and break them down even further, to understand what it is you truly looking to achieve.
A wise man recently shared with me a theory about extrinsic goals being connected to intrinsic desires. He used the analogy of an athletes working toward winning a trophy. You have to ask is the trophy really what you are looking to achieve or is it the respect of an audience, the acceptance of your peers, the excitement of your parents, etc and yet that’s still not what you are looking for. What you are probably looking for is the emotion that you receive as a reaction from these external parties approval of your success. If you were to receive the trophy but not the approval from these external parties would you feel you had the same level of success and accomplishment or would you feel any different then you did before you crossed the finish line. It is because of this that these intrinsic emotions are the true goals. Once you can define what these emotions are you can understand other ways to create them, removing the extrinsic influences from scenario.
We’ve talked about fitness as a release in hard times and sometimes it is just that. There are other times we use it as my ongoing escape, aiding your ability to avoid dealing with reality. There are times in my life that felt like my world was falling apart and the only thing I had any control of was in my training and so I found a away to make my training everything I was about. I mean I looked great, lol and it got me through but it took me a long time to let go and deal with the aftermath of the events that had happened in my life. I can recognize now that I was more than a short break to clear my head. I used it to escape from life.
If you goal is just to get skinny when is enough going to be enough. Defining your goals understand how you measure reaching your goals. This way you can determine if it is realistic, you can measure your steps along the way and you can celebrate when you get there.
ACTIVITY TWO: HAS THIS ALTERED YOUR GOALS AT ALL? You can give just a yes or no answer, or you can share how they have changed.
This was my last blog posting for this research paper. I am so thankful to everyone that has contributed anything to this study and so excited to go through all your comment to gather my findings. It will be a lot of work but it will be so worth it. I have all of you to thank for the success of my research and for sparking my curiosity enough to inspire me to seriously debate going for a masters in sport psychology. I hope you have leant something new about yourself and that it will help you in your future. I will do my best to periodically update the blog to share how my training is coming and my success as I achieve my goals. I hope that you all do the same. I will be silently rooting for you throughout your training and would love to be there to cheer you on as you cross the finish line in the future.
ACTIVITY THREE: HAS PARTICIPATING IN THIS STUDY HELP YOU IN ANY WAY? If it has taught you something new, clarified your goals, inspired you anything please let me know.
You have the ability, control and knowledge to do anything so go do it.
