3 Considerations for Every Season to be Successful

I am so excited and grateful that I had the opportunity to speak with Ashley Kaltwasser and Adam Bonilla for their podcast 'Bikini and the Brain' yesterday!

We got into lots of different concepts related to mindset and being the most successful AND fulfilled competitor you can be.  When asked about keeping balanced, motivated, and committed to a plan in prep and improvement season I highlighted these 3 things need to be considered; Identity, intentions, and impact.

You will have to subscribe to their podcast and tune in on Thursday to hear more in depth coverage on this but here's a basic breakdown to save for future reference. I am going to provide an example profile in this post too so make sure to read through to see an example :)

Your identity is who you are planning to become, see yourself as, and what you assume comes with a title you are stepping into. Maybe your identity is that of a competitor which can come with a lot of pre-conditioned expectations. I like to take it a step further and encourage my clients and members to ask themselves who THEY want to be as a competitor.

Then we go into intentions. These are the commitments required to fulfill the identity you are looking to embrace/step into.

Lastly, we must consider the impact of those intentions. Sometimes we set intentions or try to commit to an identity that doesn't truly align with our personal values, goals, or even lifestyle.

I see a lot of competitors beating themselves up for not approaching their season the same was as another athlete. But this is a huge problem because it suggests that the only way to get to a certain end result and further instills this feeling of 'not enoughness' within those athletes.

We absolutely must set our own standards, commitments, and boundaries because we all have different lifestyles, worldviews, and experiences.

Of course, you are going to have to get out of your comfort zone, be willing to let go of some things, and you will have to adapt to new demands but that doesn't mean you have to change your entire life and core values and needs just to fit some mold you have seen others portray.

Example profile for a competitor in prep:

Identity: 
A competitor who shows up for herself every day with gratitude, excitement, and recognition of wins as well as room for growth. I am a competitor who honors her needs and her goals and embraces this as a lifestyle.

Intentions:
In order to show up this way I am committed to recognizing wins every day, finding ways I can learn from each day to grow into the next day, and start each day with a list of reasons I am grateful for this sport.

I am committed to following my plan and making macro swaps when necessary should my body guide me to. I always go an extra 10 seconds on every sprint, I set intentions before every refeed meal, and I communicate honestly with my coach. I visualize, pose, and journal every day.

If self-sabotaging thoughts come to mind I will use Celeste's on-demand mindset coaching platform to help me through it ;) 

Impact:
These intentions align with my identity and are sustainable. When i think about making these commitments I feel really good about even continuing them after prep to sustain my personal development in life and as an athlete. I can see how these can be modified based on the season and I am prepared to make adjustments if I feel it is necessary for my long term success.

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