This is something we all need to remind ourselves of from time to time, obstacles and how they relate to performance/training.
1. Career Obligations – Unless you are a pro athlete, this takes precedents. Time management and flexibility is the key. Schedule your training as a business appointment (because it improves your health and mental state… all good for job productivity). But be flexible. Don’t throw in the towel because you have half the time, do SOMETHING! Even 15 minutes can be fruitful.
2. Lack of Support (emotionally) – Do you have an emotional vampire in your life? They are always knocking your training, putting you down, telling you you’re a dreamer, or just plain negative. Try to explain how your goals fit into the rest of your life, what you hope to achieve and how important they are to you. If someone in your life is not on board, you need to either keep your training life personal, or distance yourself from this person (assuming they are not family). Our true friends may not understand our goals, but they should respect and be supportive of them.
3. Family Obligations – Family FIRST. You need to plan your training around the family. Your spouse and kids are always more important than training, so flexibility (both you AND them hopefully). Make sure that you tell your coach when important birthdays are when planning your training for instance. If you have to miss a little training because of family, don’t feel guilty or upset… take pride in living a balanced life, which leads to more training and fitness in the long run (i.e. more support at home, less family stress, less athlete burnout).
4. Injury – It happens to virtually everyone at some point, an injury. It is how you deal with it that matters. Over-training is a usual suspect, but not always. When you have to take time off, the Insecurity Demon jumps on your shoulder will try to tell you its not that bad, you just need to be tougher…and besides YOU’LL LOSE ALL YOUR HARD EARNED FITNESS AND BECOME AN OUT OF SHAPE SLOB. This is when you really need a coach you trust. You also need FAITH. You have to play the cards you’re dealt and that may mean taking a few steps back before taking larger steps forward. The silver lining may be having more time to work on things you have not had time to do before? If Lance Armstrong can comeback from cancer to be the greatest tour rider ever, you can comeback too. Don’t let the Insecurity Demon take a bad situation and make it worse, seek outside help and take the steps to heal.
Finish Strong,
Coach Scott
