Meka Has been following triathlete Brad Kearns for many years now and has had the pleasure of speaking with him on various occasions. This article is has helped her grow as an athlete herself.

How To Become A Balanced Athlete

It’s easy to become obsessed with goals and tangible results and forget the higher rewards offered by physical exercise. Most exercisers focus on only one dimension of training: increasing their physical abilities. But being physically fit does not necessarily mean you are healthy or balanced in your life. There are many examples of great athletic
champions and superfit people who are unhappy, unhealthy human beings.

When your athletics are out of balance, your physical and emotional health suffers, you will never reach your
competitive potential, and you will not gain the self-knowledge and fulfillment you deserve from your athletic pursuits.
Becoming more balanced in your approach to exercise can be achieved by following this very important guideline:
Focus on enjoyment of the process over the end results. Much of modern life is results oriented. When we conduct business thinking only about profit, abuse our planet’s resources for the sake of modern comforts, or follow a compulsive exercise program, it’s easy to forget that the true rewards come from appreciation of the journey rather than accumulation of tangible results.

Ask yourself if the compulsive behavior patterns, disappointment with slow progress and subpar workouts, and struggles with injuries are worth the obsession placed on results. To gain some perspective you need to only look at someone who isn’t even able to sit on a bicycle and pedal to appreciate the gift of physical exercise. To train yourself to appreciate the process and let go of the outcome, follow these steps:

1) Consider living your life as if you were watching a great movie. You experience all the emotional highs and lows, shed tears of sadness and tears of joy. But when the movie is over, you leave the theatre and go on with your life. Every day is a new movie to be enjoyed and appreciated, regardless of the outcome...

2) Tape a note with this goal in a prominent place: "I exercise to challenge myself physically, experience a healthy
fit lifestyle, and learn and grow as a person. I strive for results, but release my attachment to the outcome”.

3) Become aware of your bodily feedback, your thoughts and your emotions related to exercise. A champion athlete who feels the slightest twinge in a muscle or a tickle of a sore throat alters her routine to avoid illness or injury. If you don’t feel like exercising, you may be on the verge of burnout. Consider resting instead of forcing your body to do something that is against your intuition.

In future newsletters we will discuss how to train your mind to:
· Create positive thoughts that will motivate and inspire your training program
· Gain control over your ego demands, insecurities and compulsions and train according to your intuition.

Brad Kearns is the author of several peak performance and fitness books, visit bradkearns.com
for details.