Power in Positives

“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” -Henry Ford

Having positive thoughts will impact your life, your performance, and your mental well-being. If you constantly tell yourself that you are not a runner, well guess what, your not and you will not be one, unless you start telling yourself that you are. Even if you give it a go, but still have the mental thoughts surrounding the “I am not a runner”, you can’t possibly be successful. For starters, running is a mental game, and even the best get drug down by negative thoughts, and it hurts their performance. Second, if you are already telling yourself you can’t, then you are most definitely going to feel like crap for all of your runs, and you will stop because you of course “are not a runner”. However, if you change your thinking from “I am not a runner” to “I am becoming a runner”, or “I am getting stronger as a runner”, then you will find, quite surprisingly, that with each run you do, it does feel easier. You get better because you stay with it. You keep running because you relate it mentally to something positive instead of negative. Before you know it, you are a runner, because you didn’t give up.

Some people have an easy time finding the positives, and others find it very difficult. It is as important to train yourself to be a positive thinker, as it is to follow a training plan to run a race. For those of us who find it hard to pick out the positive, it is necessary to focus on one positive thought at a time. Pick a mantra or a quote or even just a word to focus on while your running, or whatever fitness endeavor you are doing. Focus on it instead of picking out negatives like: I’m slow, I’m not very fit or strong, or I don’t look as good as her”. Focus on yourself and find only the positive things. “Developing a positive attitude means working continually to find what is uplifting and encouraging” -Barbara Johnson. You need to find what works for you, what encourages you to keep going and not give up. Negativity and doubt will sabotage your efforts, so don’t let them creep into your thoughts. “There are a million things telling you that you can’t keep going, but if you find the things that say you can, you’re golden” -Dr. Stephen Walker. You can do it, you can stick with it, you are amazing!

The body achieves what the mind believes. So make up your mind on whether you want to crush your goals or if you want to let those negative mental thoughts allow those goals to slip away.