👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #55 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.
Something new this week. 3 tools. 1 theme.
All to help you improve your performance:
😡 The power of negative thinking
❌ Foreshadowing failure
Beijng Olympics, 2008
Michael Phelps is standing on the blocks.
He’s 200 metres of butterfly away from his 10th Olympic gold.
He dives in.
His goggles start leaking.
By 25m, they've flooded and he can’t see.
That’d be enough to cook most athletes. At least slow ‘em to silver.
Not Phelps. He won. Broke a world record too.
Because he’d practised it.
"In the 200 fly, my goggles fill up with water the first 25. And I am blind for 175m. I revert back to what I did in training and counted my strokes. And I knew how many strokes I take the first, second, third, and fourth 50 of all of my best 200 flies. So I reverted back to that and I was ready for that because I was mentally prepared for it."
Whether we’re planning 16-week goals or 16-minute race plans, the lesson is to plan for failure.
Not common advice.
But shown to nearly double our chance of reaching the goal.
Ask: “Why will this fail?”
Foreshadowing failure can help you predict, plan for and practice beating all the obstacles you’ll face.
🌀 The middle problem
When you do foreshadowing failure, a good example of an obstacle you might predict is the middle problem.
It's the idea we lose motivation in the middle of whatever we're doing.
It might be the 3rd km of a 5 km race.
Or the 7-9th week of a 16-week goal.
It's a natural thing that everyone experiences.
The key to overcoming the middle problem is to be aware of it (ahem, foreshadow failure).
Then use tools to work through it...
😞 Visualise failure
One effective tool we could use to overcome the middle problem is actually more negative thinking.
Instead of visualising success, visualise failure – it's a more powerful motivator.
Yep, just thinking about how shit you'll feel if you don't hit your goal activates neurons and shifts your hormonal state. Which can help get your ass into gear.
So part of your race plan could be that when you hit the 3km mark, think about how you'll feel if you have a poor performance.
Or when your motivation starts to drop around week 7 of your 16-week goal pursuit, when you're about to skip your session, when you can't get out of bed, spend 1-2 minutes visualising failure – the consequences of not hitting your goal.
Sit in it. See what happens.
Note: We’re not trynna punish ourselves with negative thoughts. But use them as a tool to motivate us towards achieving goals.
Summary:
❌ When goal setting, foreshadowing failure helps us plan for the worst. Ask, "How can this fail?". Predicting obstacles is the first step in overcoming them.
🌀 An example of an obstacle is the middle problem. We naturally lose motivation in the middle of whatever we're doing. Being aware of it is the first step to overcoming it.
😞 When you’re motivation dips, visualise failure – the outcome where you don't achieve your goal. It's a powerful motivator (more than picturing success) to help get your ass into gear.
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service and is not a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information given in this email is general in nature, written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.
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