You are on a mission.
You want results and you are ready and willing to achieve results.
You have commitment, discipline, focus and passion.
This is the year when you are all-in to experience success.
A motivated mind and a body on a mission is the perfect recipe for health and fitness improvements.
However, if you are only focused on results, this forward-thinking, result-focused mentality forces you to believe that it's only when you achieve results that you will happy or feel more successful.
Consequently, this thinking often influences extreme choices in order to achieve quicker results, like overtraining and underfueling/undereating, as it relates to wanting the result of being a better, stronger, leaner or faster athlete.
Although S.M.A.R.T. goals are important, a result-driven mindset can fog good judgment choices.
I imagine there are many athletes who aspire to be better, leaner, faster or stronger.
But it's the obsessive focus on the end result goal that often drives these athletes to work with me as it relates to declining health and performance caused from extreme training and eating behaviors.
Unhealthy, unrealistic and unsustainable strategies may bring results but a healthy process-driven mindset creates long-lasting change.
I can't say it enough but results DO come to those who don't focus on the results.
-The athlete who focuses on better fueling and dietary methods will unintentionally change his/her body composition to perform better.
-The athlete who hopes to qualify for Kona will enjoy his/her journey more if he/she focused on the process of development, instead of feeling pressure to perform on one day.
-The athlete who wants to improve his/her run off the bike in a triathlon will do so if he/she stops focusing on trying to be a "faster runner" and focuses on improving resilience and strength.
-The athlete who sets a goal race time will perform best when there are no expectations set forth on race day to distract what needs to be done on that day, to ensure a successful race execution effort.
Although it seems counter intuitive, a processed-drive approach will reward you more than any method that is only designed to give you results.
A processed driven approach....
- Can help you focus on new and improved skills, which will allow for long lasting development and progression.
- Encourages experimentation and allows for failure to figure out what works best for you.
- Let's you enjoy the journey as you remain an active participant in your life, with every present moment bringing happiness.
- Puts you in the driver seat as to the best strategies and methods that will work for your body and your lifestyle. This brings higher self-esteem as you aren't focused on what everyone else is doing, but instead, all of your energy is on yourself.
- Allows you to enjoy the result, no matter what the result may be. In the big picture, things rarely work out like we imagine so we are often in for disappointment and frustration when happiness is contingent on a successful results. Great enjoyment, content and happiness can come from the journey, when you let go of the need to achieve a specific outcome.
- Is less stressful. You are more willing to take risks, stretch your comfort zone and be flexible. It's freeing to not be driven by results. By staying confident in your process, you build confidence that you are staying on your path to athletic greatness.
The next time you find yourself obsessively focusing on your training and eating in order to achieve results, ask yourself if your methods are letting you make the most out of the process?
By focusing on process you will unlock many great performances by your body.