Believe it to see it
In running, and in life, mindset matters. Training, practicing and preparing are absolutely important but I often say the number one thing that makes the difference between accomplishing your goal or not is how much you want it and how much you believe you can achieve it. For the dream to really become reality you must fully commit to the thing you are chasing with complete and total buy in. If you hesitate or hedge or waver even for a split second you diminish your chances. A coach can help you to set a lofty and achievable goal and keep you positive and focused in pursuit of it.
With the Olympics, we are seeing this concept in action center stage. Look at Noah Lyles, who won gold in a photo finish for the U.S. in the 100m. He came out of the tunnel and onto the track with extreme confidence. After the race, one of the first things he said to the cameras was "America, I told you! I got this!” In an interview later, he talked about being a true believer of speaking things into existence.
Cole Hocker went from fifth to first in the final 300m of the 1500 to win gold and set an Olympic record and in a quote he said "I just told myself, 'Don't be soft. You've gotta go with it. You're going to regret this for the rest of your life if you don't go with it.'"
These are just two of countless examples in these Olympic games of what you can achieve when in your mind the dream is so clear you have already achieved it. There's the popular expression: "seeing is believing" but I prefer to look at it the other way around: "believing is seeing."
The Olympics is, of course, the best of the best, but I assure you this applies to everyone. I will give you an example from my own running.
In the spring, I signed up to race the Marine Corps Historic Half. When I registered, I set three possible goals for myself. In hindsight, that's where I sold myself short. With three possible goals, the likelihood I would achieve the top tier lessened. If I really wanted the reach goal, if I really believed I could achieve it, there would be no need for any other goals.
The baseline goal was to finish the race happy and healthy. This should go without saying.
The medium goal was to PR the half marathon distance, which I achieved, while also running this particular race, on a challenging course, 10 minutes faster than I had 10 years earlier, and younger. This is great and something to be super proud of. But it wasn't what I set out to achieve when I signed up for the race.
My reach goal was to run a time of 1:35, which gave me a great chance at a first place age group and division finish. Looking at the results after the race, that time would have earned me that top spot with minutes to spare. But I did not achieve this goal. I ran a time of 1:46:47 placing 6th in my age group.
So even though I had what should be considered a great day with a PR, I was disappointed. And with some time to reflect, I think it comes down to one simple fact, I didn't want it enough, I didn't believe in it enough. My training was spot on. I was rested and healthy going into the race. There is absolutely no reason I could not achieve the goal other than the simple fact that I hadn't 100% bought into it. Because I gave myself an out with a mid-tier goal that was still highly respectable, I never stood a chance of achieving the top tier goal. Never. It wasn't like I started strong in pursuit of 1:35 and then something went sideways. From the day I signed up for the race all the way through the finish line I did not mentally position myself to achieve that goal of a 1:35 finish.
This was a valuable lesson for me as an athlete and as a coach. And as I set my sights on some late summer and fall races, I look forward to setting and achieving great goals, including this one!