A Pep Talk on Perspective: Change Your View, Change Your Experience

If you are an endurance athlete you have been in the dark zone. This is when things just don’t seem to be going your way. The headwind is brutal, the hill is unending, the current seems to always be against you. In these moments it is easy to slip into some serious self doubt and to want to quit.

That self doubt and actually all of our self beliefs are fueled by our perspective on how we see the situation. Sometimes a shift in perspective is all we need to silence that self doubt. Let’s go over a few options to help shift our perspective.

1. Zoom Out: Imagine you're in a helicopter, hovering way above. See that tiny speck down there huffing it along? That's you! You're already out there doing the thing! You're putting in the work, showing up for yourself! Let’s celebrate that!. Don't get bogged down in the struggle. Celebrate the big picture – you're on your way to achieving something incredible. Every step, every stroke, every pedal you are one step closer to achieving this goal.

2. Zoom In: Put the metaphorical horse blinders on. Focus on this moment. Focus on the next step, stroke or pedal. Pay attention to what you can control in the here and now. Through focusing on the now, you are not focusing on the next several hours, miles, hills, etc. 

3. Reframe the Grind: Sometimes training and race day are hard. In these moments you have a choice, dwell on the difficulty, or celebrate the challenge. In these moments search for the positive. Search for the accomplishment. That accomplishment can be something tangible, such as actually completing the race. Sometimes the accomplishment is something internal that only you can see, such as the feeling of not giving up.

4. Find Your Self Compassion: For some, this can be much easier said than done! We are often pretty negative and mean to ourselves when things are not going our way. A simple tool to help combat this is to pretend you are talking to someone you care about, or another athlete on course. A spin on that is to imagine what a kind and caring person would say to you? For me, my grandmother comes to mind. I imagine what she would say to me.

You are strong, you are capable, and you got this!! Get out there. Try hard things with these tools to help shift your perspective. Remember, you are an endurance athlete! You are out there doing something that many people wouldn’t even try!