A triathlete’s life: the amazing Chrissie Wellington

I met the amazing Chrissie Wellington the other day at the Triathlon show – the second time I have had the privilege actually. This time though, she was signing her book ‘Life without limits’. Meet Chrissie and get one of the most talked about books in recent triathlon history all at once? Oh yes!

I have still not had the opportunity to start reading it, although when I was flicking through the book while standing in the queue to get her autograph, I flicked through it, as you do. The opening to chapter ten caught my eye.

‘Of all the body parts we train for this unforgiving pursuit of ours, none is more important than the head....they need a mind that is as honed and powerful as their butt cheeks’

‘I can’t slow down, I can’t relax, I can’t lift that weight, I can’t run that fast, I can’t complete an ironman’

‘You may not be able to now, but with a positive frame of mind and a willingness to work, anything is possible’

I was first introduced to NLP when I was at the triathlon world championships in Hungary in 2010. I had a one off 1:1 session the night before the race. To be honest I was very sceptical, it all seemed a bit ‘new age’. But, consider this. I was an athlete who had targets, I had to bet that person, get out of the water in front of that person, got disheartened when people caught me on the run, and so on. What is wrong with this picture? All my focuses are on external sources, other people and other events that were not in my control. Could I do anything to influence any of those people? No. Who could I influence? Myself.

When I was thinking all those things I have listed above, what was I not thinking about? That’s right, myself! So, needless to say, once I had refocused myself and reframed my goals to ones that I COULD influence, what happened? I achieved a PB the following day in my race. Pretty impressive, even if I do say so myself. So I trained as an NLP practitioner and now help others to achieve the same mental drive, focus and motivation ALL THE TIME.

Here is a small technique you might like to try.

 Positive mistakes technique

1.      What was the mistake, error or defeat you experienced? Write it down

2.      What were the emotions that were associated with the problem as you think about it?

3.      What did you gain?

·        What positive learnings can you extract from the problem?

·        In what way have you become stronger as a result of encountering this problem?

·        In what way has the problem made you wiser or more mature in your future races?

·        In what way has the problem made you more confident about the way you approached your game? 

·        In what way has the problem made you more appreciative of the goal you have set yourself?

Applied as a form of reviewing mistakes, errors and defeats, this will help you develop a positive mind sent and emotional resilience.

For more information on mental strength coaching and NLP visit my web site http://www.ryding2health.com.

Melanie Ryding