I’ve recently completed my 75th Ironman in the past 17 months. As you can imagine, there are many moments when my body wants to stop, but I have to push forward to finish what I started. In those moments, I rely on my mind to do the heavy lifting. While there are dozens of mental get-a-grip tactics I use to push through, I’d like to share one that is a go-to favorite. It’s one that is used by great athletes, successful business people and amazing humanitarians. It has the power to give you a boost of clarity, provide a needed kick-in-the-pants or reinvigorate your passion when you feel tired or discouraged.
It’s called a mantra. Your mantra is a personal motto of sorts. And it’s what you repeat to yourself to keep your dream alive. Like affirmations, it’s a way to feed yourself a positive message and reinforce your belief that what you are doing is worth the sacrifice.
Prior to his 2012 win at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Australian Pete Jacobs created his own mantra for his season and his big race. His mantra was simple, powerful and elegant. It was simply “love.”
He said that “love” best summarized what he wanted to feel and was a reflection of his own gratitude. He loved the sport of triathlon and that he had the chance to spend his time doing what he was passionate about. He loved the support he had from his wife, family and friends. And when he was suffering and battling the pain that came in the Ironman race, thinking of “love” was a great way to redirect his thoughts and bring positive emotion into the present moment.
Another world-class endurance athlete, Diana Nyad, used the power of a mantra during her 2013 awe-inspiring performance. At 64 years old, Nyad, made a 35-year old “Xtreme Dream” come true when she became the first swimmer to complete the distance between Cuba and Florida without a protective shark cage.
Conquering the Straits of Florida, Nyad made the 110-mile ocean journey in 53 hours and walked onto the beach at Key West on September 2, 2013. Leading up to her epic swim and during her arduous effort in the water, Nyad’s motto of “Find a way” was repeated over and over in her head. Nyad wouldn’t let the huge challenges – venomous box jellyfish, sharks, and ocean currents to name a few – deter her. She wouldn’t accept defeat in what was declared to be her fifth and final effort. She explained, “You don’t like it. It’s not doing well. Find a way.”
Do you have a mantra that you’ve been using? Is there one that you would like to create for an upcoming challenge? It can be as simple as one word like Pete’s “love” or it can be a phrase or saying like Diana’s “Find a way.” Choose a mantra that you can emotionally connect to. Make sure it has real meaning to you so using it will give you focus, clarity and strength when you need it most.
This may be a simple version of the “mantra” you refer to above, but when I used to skateboard in middle and early high school, every time I fell and would get hurt, I would allow myself three times to say “ow!” and then I would get up and try my trick again. It really did work to get past the pain.
I believe in a mental mantra. It works.
That’s Awesome Will! And yes I would say anything that gets you past concrete induced pain … use it 😉