The Power Of Positivity

Most people look at fitness and athletics solely as a physical undertaking. You see professional basketball players jumping through the roof; you see Usain Bolt running at speeds one time thought to be impossible. It seems like fitness training only revolves around your muscles. It is important for you to realize that your body is only as strong as your mind allows it to be. If you want to give yourself the best opportunity to excel in athletics or if you want to help jump start your weight loss you need to train your mind as intensely as you train your body.

This idea is likely not new to you. Whether you had a parent who told you to keep your head held high, or a coach that told you that you needed to be upbeat during a competition, you likely have been told that being positive beats being negative.  Why? I’ll answer that by showing to very different “model” athletes, Serena Williams and John McEnroe:

1.       Serena Williams: She displays an incredible amount of confidence. It is rare to see Serena throw her racquet in disgust and she is constantly pumping her fist with excitement. She has been known to take long breaks from competition and then come back and show the same excitement that she had before her break. It is so crucial for her to remain confident. She makes a great deal of mistakes in her matches. If she allowed herself to get angry she would have a greater tendency to focus on her emotions instead of her match strategy. These lessons from Serena are helpful for you because you need to stay focused on the task at hand. If you are focused on the negatives you will tend to be more emotional and less focused on what tasks you need to accomplish in your training

2.       John McEnroe: You are probably confused why I would put John McEnroe on a list of quote unquote model athletes. The reason is simple: People are all different. You will show your confidence differently than I will. Mac, as we will call him, is one of the few people in history that could lash out aggressively and never have his confidence shaken. Some of you will need to get some aggression out from time to time. That is ok. What is important for you to do is let that emotion out and then be done with it. Mac was able to regain his confidence at the drop of a hat and that allowed him to regain his focus quickly. On those days when you feel bottled up and angry, let it out in a constructive way, take a few deep breaths, and then get refocused on your task at hand. If you bottle it up for too long you will feel overly stressed and you don’t want to have to fight that stress when  you should be focused on your training

The goal is simple: Find your confidence and your positivity and fight for it. The more that you can stay positive the better your focus will be on the task at hand, getting your body into better shape. There is enough to think about when you have lofty fitness goals, make sure that your frame of mind helps you instead of hurting you. If you can remain positive you will be much more likely to achieve your goals!  Good luck.

Jim Crowell

jim@if-fit.com

412-254-fitt

www.if-fit.com