The Zone

I am reading a terrific book called The Road map to the Zone. It breaks down the mental side of athletic goal setting, training, and performing to your highest potential. This is my favorite part of training, and I really believe it to be the most important part. We spend money on bikes, coaching, heart rate monitors, travel, yet we tend to be afraid of and neglectful of the place that can make or break us. The space between our ears. This book helps to break down the barriers that stand in our way, the barriers that we construct ourselves.

It is pretty similar to what Rich Straus says, finding the one thing. This book calls it the why. If the why is big enough, the how then becomes easy. A great example given in this book was a man whose daughter needed a kidney transplant. There were no matches except for her father. Her father was 100 pounds overweight and was therefore ineligible to donate to her. He'd always been overweight, and was never able to lose it. In eight months he lost 100 pounds and he donated a kidney to his daughter.

His why was big enough, enough motivation that the how was doable.

And so it is with all of us whether our dreams be athletic, academic, or career. When you set that goal, this book recommends then determining the why. How big is your why, which then comes back to the one thing.

Beyond that we identify the obstacles that tend to get int he way of our goals.

Example;

Goal: Lose 10 pounds.

Why; To get healthy (is this big enough to make the how easy?)

Obstacles; for this person, maybe her whole family eats doughnuts 8 times a day.

Then identify things you can do to move beyond those obstacles, for this person it could be ban all doughnuts from the house.

Of course this is just an example but I think it is a powerful message.

How many times have I defeated my own self in the past 2 years for various reasons. Were my obstacles nutrition and mental game? I don't get off on getting angry or bringing hatred into my competition. I get fast by spreading my wings and flying. My wing span has been small the past 2 seasons, but I can feel the wings are healing, and the goals are gaining clarity.

So I am working through the spreadsheets in this book as if I am back in therapy (eating disorder rehab days!). I realize the key to everything lies between the ears. It lies with me, within my power. Nothing anyone else does, says, or promises will give me what I can unveil myself.

Onward.

:-) mary eggers