I saw a couple of things this week that hit home, the most recent of which came over tonight via triathlon coach Paulo Sousa's twitter feed. Remember my comments a while back about being coachable? Well, David Wendkos of TriSwimCoach.com expands on it. The money graf:
Being coachable is agreeing to follow the guidance of another, without questioning it, without needing to first understand why, without needing to analyze it, and without trying to adapt it. It is putting full faith in the person teaching you to show you a new way of doing something, and being open to learning it exactly that way. Trying their way, without question, for long enough to properly determine its merit. That does not mean you don’t use your brain. It simply means that for an appropriate period of time, you allow yourself to be fully guided to experience a new way of doing something. By the way, this can be really, really difficult. As people, we naturally want to understand. We want to ‘get it’. But sometimes, the best way to reach our goals is by finding a teacher we can believe in, and then following their instructions without an explanation. Understanding will come . . .later.
Sorry, that's just not how I work. Maybe my lack of coachability will be the death of me, or at least the reason I never fulfill my potential. In the words of someone, I've tried things my way for two decades and I haven't accomplished what I've desired, so something has to give. And my vain insistence on living on my own terms won't allow it to happen.
The second recent worthwhile read is from my friend Molly Zahr, on training and motivation. Anyone who wakes up with snow in the ground well into May knows what it's like to struggle with motivation. It doesn't matter what carrot dangles in front of you, there are any number of excuses we can make to not get out the door for a workout. Believe me, I've used most of them, but Molly reminded me that the motivation has to come from within. Simple as that. And for that I thank her.
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