I don't need my mental coach (and friend) Gloria to confirm that I have a type A personality.
"Type A individuals tend to be very competitive and self-critical. They strive toward goals without feeling a sense of joy in their efforts or accomplishments."
I think many active individuals (runners, triathletes) would feel comfortable using the title "type A" at times when it comes to training, racing, the diet, work and life.
However, I feel over the past few years, I have learned to become a more relaxed type A. In other words, this is what I try to be less of on a daily basis......
"Type A personalities experience a constant sense of urgency: Type A people seem to be in a constant struggle against the clock. Often, they quickly become impatient with delays and unproductive time, schedule commitments too tightly, and try to do more than one thing at a time, such as reading while eating or watching television.
Type A individuals tend to be easily aroused to anger or hostility, which they may or may not express overtly. This appear to be the main factor linked to heart disease."
Interestingly, Type A personalities may have traits that lead to better performances in life and sport. Type A personalities generally have higher need for achievements and their behavior pattern is often associated with the success of an entrepreneur.
(Reference here)
Since I started competitive swimming at the age of 10 or 11, I have always been an athlete. I don't consider myself a hardcore athlete, for my competitive spirit desires the opportunity to be beat by those who are faster than me in order to help me push myself to be better. I try to look at the positives in every race rather than a finish place or time.
Because of my natural desire to be challenged in life, I have learned to enjoy the journey of reaching goals. If you know me well, I am an open book when it comes to goals and I am not afraid to talk about my goals and how hard I am willing to work for them. I firmly believe that life has not been easy for me. Sports, school, life....I have encountered many struggles, obstacles and set-backs while trying to reach my goals.
Patience is the most powerful weapon that I carry with me in my journey of life.
If you are impatient and wish time to fly by, it's likely that you will struggle with reaching goals. Accumulation of hard work leads to great performances. Life, work, sports...even if you work hard but are impatient you will find yourself trying to take short-cuts or too many risks to try to progress too quickly.
You don't have to be an athlete to carry the unfortunate trait of impatience. Want to lose weight quickly? The fitness/supplement/diet industry can help you with that. Quick fixes and extreme efforts sell well. Instant gratification is what our society thrives off of as very few people desire to be the tortoise when you can be the hare. When people want results yesterday, it's no surprise that something that can be accomplished quickly is much more fulfilling than something that takes time to achieve.
Some progress is better than no progress. But if you have a goal and don't see extreme results in a week or two, how long will it take you to forget your goal and move on to another method to see if "that way" will be faster. Bouncing around from attempt after attempt is nothing more than feeling defeated by a challenge without realizing your true potential to achieve success.
There are no short cuts in life. I learned this about a year after obtaining my Master of Science degree in Exercise Physiology.
Wanting to do more with nutrition for active bodies and desiring to take my passion for public speaking and writing to the next level, I was told by many that I would need to obtain a Registered Dietitian credential to be qualified and licensed to "practice" nutrition.
For three years, I was forced to be patient. You can't rush time, especially when it comes to education. Unlike sports, doing more and wanting it now was not going to happen. The saying quality of quantity could not have been more true than during my 10 month dietetic internship. I learned more than I ever imagined and my initial dreams of having my own business and taking my passion for speaking to the next level were combined with a new love of clinical nutrition.
Throughout my dietetic journey, I realized the true value of patience. Hard work in both sport and life will pay off but you can't expect results tomorrow if you haven't put in the time to learn lessons, to overcome obstacles, to feel defeat and perhaps, become someone who you never imagined you could be.
Life is not easy. "I can't" is part of my vocabulary but I have never allowed it to override "I can." If there are any takeaways from this blog post, my hope is that you will never give up on your goals. Its much better to achieve a goal in 1,2 or 10 years than to think to yourself in 1,2 or 10 years....."what if I only tried a bit harder to be a bit smarter with my approach and didn't give up."
I have dreams in life and then I have goals. A goal like qualifying for my third trip to Kona at Lake Placid next year is a long term goal that will be on my mind over the next year as I put in all the hard work that is necessary to race strong against my competition in the 30-34 age group next July. Dreams, on the other hand, are a different story. Unable to determine a finish-date as to when a dream will come true, I figure why not work hard with my passion for public speaking until an opportunity is presented to me show my love for speaking.....speaking about topics in which I am very passionate about.
On October 16th, 2012, a dream of mine came true.
I hope you enjoy my first ever live TV segment (featuring four of my very own new Trimarni creations) which is part of the Baptist Heart Wise Program for Women with Baptist Medical Center Beaches.
Healthy eats with whole grains