Redefine your feelings toward stress.
Stress is made out to be this hairy, sweaty, tense beast on our backs. However, stress can be quite positive. If you look at the times in your life when you’ve experienced the most personal growth or had your proudest achievements, chances are there was some stress attached to it. Stress can be viewed as an opportunity for growth and improvement, rather than a chance to fail or look bad in front of your peers.
Learn to accept setbacks.
Think about what you can learn from a situation that didn’t go your way and how you can get better. Focusing on perfection is what triggers us to make excuses, or worse, paralyzes us from even trying. As Achor recommends, “Choose a counterfact (an alternative reaction to a scenario) that makes us feel positive rather than helpless.”
In the case of losing our lead at the Pioneer, I used these counterfacts to push through the hardship:
- I’m so glad Gordon was able to fix the mechanical and that we get to finish the race! (positive counterfact)
- I worked hard, and I achieved my goal of being as fit as I could for this race. I’m disappointed that we didn’t win, but we did our best and sometimes things happen that you can’t control (acceptance of setbacks, explanatory style)
- When we were sitting on the side of the trail while our competition flew by (after they asked if we were OK), we did not react. We also did not react negatively when the setback happened. (pressing the pause button before you react)
- The stress of the setback created an even stronger team relationship between us because of the stress. (positive counterfacts and explanatory styles)
Mental toughness and positive mindset are a muscle. You can apply these principles not only in your training and racing but in every day life. Happiness and positivity are habits, and if you practice them often, they become second nature. The great thing about the challenges we voluntarily take on through endurance sports—or any sport for that matter—is that they make us better and more capable humans in every day life.
“Successful people see adversity as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block.” — Shawn Achor
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