Success is a Choice: Make it Yours

Choose to be a Champion

Somewhere in the world today, the Beijing Olympic champion in your event got out of bed.

They were given the same 24 hours you were given. They saw the same sun and same sky you saw. But for some reason, they decided to choose to use today to prepare better than anyone else in the world in their (your) event.

My question is, why wasn’t it you who made that choice?

Choosing to prepare better than anyone else in your event is not about money. It isn’t about your coach. It isn’t about the facilities you haven’t got. It is about you making a conscious decision to seize every opportunity – training, eating, sleeping, recovering, resting, gym work, flexibility work, starts, turns, dives, finishes……….everything and do it better than anyone in your event anywhere in the world.

So again, I ask the question, why wasn’t it you who made that choice?

Tomorrow is another day. Make the choice. Seize the day. Choose to be a champion.

Championship Moments

95% of swimming is easy. Be honest. 95% of what you do day to day is easy. Your mom drives you to the pool. You do some training with your friends and other positive motivated people like yourself. You get to feel fit and healthy. You get to visit cool places when you race. Swimming – most of the time is a really enjoyable, fun activity.

What makes you special is your ability and tenacity in the other 5% – those championship moments when things get tough and when everyone else backs off.
You know the moments I mean. The 75-85 metre mark in 100 free. Or the last turn in a 200. Or the final 150 of a 400.

Great swimmers master these moments, they face and overcome the moments when pain, pressure and fear strike.

As you prepare for your next race, learn to chase these moments. Look for them in training and deliberately and purposefully seek them out. Embrace every opportunity to challenge yourself during these moments. Learn to love these moments.

Focus 95% of your efforts on mastering these 5% moments. Make your training more challenging and more demanding than any competitive situation you could ever face.

Why? Because you know 95% of your opposition wont.

Most people avoid championship moments. Most people hide from them. Most people go into a meet not knowing if they will succeed or fail because they have not faced fear in training and learnt to overcome it.

That’s why there’s only one gold medal for each event.

Master Championship moments!

Consistency

Let’s assume the performance you want at your next championship meet is a 10/10. You could be chasing that 10/10 swim at the Beijing Olympic trials to make the team and realise your Olympic dream.

You could be targeting a 10/10 swim to break the State record. Or you want a 10/10 swim to get that PR you have been working for.

A 10/10 swim at your next meet will come from consistency across all areas of your preparation, i.e. 10/10 nutrition, 10/10 mental preparation, 10/10 training, 10/10 gym work, 10/10 flexibility work, 10/10 recovery and so on.

A 10/10 swim cannot come from a program of 4/10 sleep, 5 / 10 recovery, 7 / 10 gym and 2/10 training.

Think about a formula one car. To get a winning result takes a commitment to consistent quality across all areas of the car – wheels, tyres, brakes, steering, engine, gear box, aerodynamics, suspension and of course a world class driver.

Just improving engine performance in isolation, will not make the car perform better. Winning comes from attention to detail and consistency in quality in the preparation of the whole car.

The way you do anything is the way you do everything. The 10/10 swim you crave at your next meet will come from the 10/10 effort you put into everything you do between now and then.

Summary

1. Choose to be a champion. Somewhere in the world today, the Beijing Olympic Gold medallist in your event chose to prepare better than their competition. Why wasn’t it you who made that choice? Make it now!
2. Championship moments. Chase championship moments in training and in lead up competitions. Challenge yourself – but more than that – embrace every chance you get to be challenge and learn to Master those moments.
3. Consistency – “the way you do anything is the way you do everything”

Wayne Goldsmith