Happy New Year, 2023!
I hope the last few days of 2022 were peaceful and quiet and you had some time to reflect on your year. In speaking with clients and athletes, I often hear the same thing:
I ran out of time to meet my goals
I can't believe how fast the year went
I had really great intentions to do 'x' (insert a goal here)
Another year and nothing changed
So here's my advice for 2023. Change one thing. ONE. Make it small and make it doable. Choose the low-hanging fruit. Then do that thing, whatever it is, and do it darn well! Here are a few examples:
I want to get up and walk my dog every morning (pups will thank you!)
I want to do 20 pushups a day
I want to do Yoga every day (remember - you can do a 5-minute yoga session, and it counts!)
I want to read every day
Why are you doing this? Two reasons: It builds confidence (you're achieving your goal each day), and you're actually doing something you want to do.
Not everything in our lives needs to center on sports. Sometimes, when we focus on something other than sports, we actually get BETTER at sports.
Program whatever you're going to do into your day. Put it on a calendar. Set an alarm. Then when that time comes or the alarm sounds, do your ONE THING.
Let me give you an example. Today, I did a post-ride stretch on the Peloton. My hips and glutes literally SCREAMED at me!
"What is this?" they asked.
"Stretching," I whispered.
And I found my one thing - the one thing I used to do every morning until it got away from me. Until my coffee became more important. Until my dogs slobbered me to death while trying to do this activity. It's stretching.
Here's how I'm going to manage this:
COMMITMENT:
"I will stretch for five minutes every morning."
HOW I WILL DO THIS:
I'll get up, brush my teeth, get dressed, turn on coffee (because it's still important), let the dogs out, and stretch. My timer is already set for five minutes, and I have a 'routine' that I do that I know will help me feel better for the rest of the day! The dogs are outside - so there's no slobber. Coffee is brewing and will be ready by the time I finish stretching.
If you like the idea of a morning stretch but need help figuring out what to do, you can use an app like Downdog or YouTube where you search for '5-minute morning stretch'. Pick one and go!
Maria Netherland is a Northwest Florida-based coach who is a USA Triathlon Level II Endurance and Youth & Juniors Certified Coach as well as a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist. Coach Maria loves working for athletes of all abilities, military athletes, and new triathletes as they pursue their goals. Maria is a veteran of the US Army and a United States Military Academy at West Point graduate. She can be reached at maria@teammpi.com.