Become the runner you want to be.
Sometimes it happens that a client will comment on my medals in my office. See they hang there not as a blogoff. I mean sure I am proud of them but, there are people who have by far more medals than I do.
There are runners that really participate to earn a medal. And that’s fine, that is their story, their motivation.
For me, it has an effect on memories, and special moments. Crossing the finish line of the Two Oceans Ultra, or the Dubai Marathon, or surviving a wet cold Polish 42,2Km. Memories, and good ones at that.
Plus, they remind me that each race, each event had me follow and adhere to a process. And of course, till date there was not an easy race amongst them.
The strange part is, that ever so often, clients will comment on the medals and immediately project this on to themselves. Ranging from “oh whow, I never did that marathon”, or “sure wish I could one day run one marathon, would be enough for me”.
Can you relate to these types of topics? As though the run for me was somehow easier. Or like I was a pro runner. Won races and made it to the Olympics. LOL.
I am not by the way. Nope, didn’t go to any Olympics, yes, won a race once twice actually but just as a recreational runner. And winning was never the objective. Rather running is just something that stuck with me throughout my life.
And yes, since my childhood actually.
Over 35 years of running, from just becoming fit, to surviving military training and then discovering the freedom and the possibilities associated with which you can perform this sport.
And that is what clients so often hope to find when they come to see me. They have somehow lost that urge or filled the running bug with something else. And no, my clients don’t need months of consultation, even if they have not been happy with their running or not running at all for months or years.
There are steps that they can undertake that give extremely quick results.
That is what I am all about, supporting runners on their journey to become a better, stronger and faster runner.
For some this means overcoming a certain blockade, to find their own vision again, their own trust in oneself and abilities.
And for this there are a range of tools that over the years I got skilled in. Invested time and money to learn motivational techniques, hypnosis, cbt and many more. And somehow, exactly that, rekindling the fire, helping runners unleash what they perhaps never thought of, that became my passion.
So one day a customer recommended that I start making a blog. To reach people who might just need to hear this. And see this blog, and its quality content for free. And it is my ambition to address attitude, mindset, mental issues that may be right now resonate with you.
Of course as a certified run coach, I do offer workshops, but when COVID restrictions allow it again, I also train athletes, especially those with ambition. What I don’t do is give advice or talk on topics such as apparel, shoes, gels etc.
But you know there are a lot of mental tools you can use all by yourself. A lot of the material I talk about and present is based on solution-oriented short-term coaching. At the end of the day, all things considered. You know what is best for you. You might not be in a situation to decide, or to find and access this. But we are all unique, and with these tools that I talk about it is my hope you will use them and work with them. To work with self-hypnosis, mental training, suggestions, and in being able to make new goals, and go for them. That’s why I set this all up in such a way that you can access this at your liking. Of course, there are some advanced courses that are there in case you are serious about unleashing your potential.
But let us get started, and let us dive in.
Become more serious, more active and one day looking back you will have a run story to share you are proud of.
Activate your potential. But what does this mean? Everyone has different ideas about this. Do drop me a comment. [email protected]
You know when I meet someone who turns out to be a runner, and he or she starts talking ever so often their own performance is downplayed or one of my favorites “as long as I am running, I never look at my time”.
But really that’s what you want to say? That’s your position so to speak. And it is exactly here where it is recommended to take a closer look, to see what lies beneath this. And doing this by yourself is usually not so effective. To get an impression of how you perceive your position towards running, and how to get a better understanding of yourself, it is worthwhile to get expert advice.
Too many runners out there that are healthy, could be fit, and complain about their own lack of performance, their lack of success.
Yes, we need our body, mind, and attitude.
And what a journey it is.
At school we are apparently taught a lot, then we hit puberty and don’t understand what is happening to us, and next thing we struggle to find time to do the things we love and we think we need a psychiatrist. Well, no you don’t, it is normal. There are plenty of tools out there to apply.
Whether you are a housewife, or have a 9-5 job, or are on a mission you have the time to ask yourself what does it mean to be a runner? When can I call myself a successful runner? Am I allowed to say that? Oh my gosh blushing!
Or is that just something you can say if you have 100’s of selfies on your Instagram of you posing in running gear and medals hanging around your neck like Mr. T. the A Team.
Or have you found your running desire and are burning hey even yearning for your next run. This happens if you are brave. If you are valiant to sign up for a challenging run. And please note the word challenging is defined by you. Don’t get caught up in the comparison trap that you need to do something extraordinary. You don’t need to save a whale or a tree, what you need to do is look at your current situation and look for the next step. And answer yourself why you want to do that.
If the last time you ran was in high school, why do you suddenly want to become a marathoner? If running marathons has been your passion till now, why do you want to do a multi day event?
Or, if your Saturdays are usually spent in shopping malls, why do you want to join the local park run?
Listen we are not talking about quitting your job, growing long hair and doing a forest run type of thing. No. Don’t quit. Don’t get that divorce, don’t run away to start a coffee shop or bicycle repair shop and a new life.
No doubt those things will make you truly happy or be a success. What we are talking about is, time is passing, whether you use it wisely or not. Whether you build a great run story or not.
Perhaps some of this content sounds familiar, that blogs that you are someone who is interested in developing yourself.
If your topic is about health, to be able to excel there is a lot of knowledge that we never got exposed to. Think back to your first run experience. Perhaps you went running with someone, and he or she gave you some advice. You took it without questioning it. Then you took some content from a 4 USD magazine, and that information stuck with you. Hey doesn’t matter, it was superficial, and surprise, surprise on the next page there was an ad that somehow relates and offers a solution to what you just read.
And that has been your run story. Sort of like that cake recipe you know if off by hard. Don’t need a cookbook. Listen, you would not be the first runner to stumble upon this blog, or join one of my workshops and then during the first break come to me and say: “I never realized that”.
That’s why on this blog you will find a lot of powerful content that is meant to give you that boost, start that thinking process and then one day 10 years from now you look back and can look back at a great run story.
And a great run story means somehow you are happy. You are satisfied but not completely saturated, LOL. You value your time, appreciate the moments outdoors, you have a good relationship with your body, your mind, and hopefully with our Creator. Your self-esteem is on a healthy level.
If you have a healthy self-esteem, you will already be doing those things which give you satisfaction, which do you good.
You are old enough to know this, this “life your dream” is a bit of a hype. Too many of us have somehow settled into a job that is fulfilling. Even if it is not saving the ocean or protecting endangered species. That is why, in your spare time if you have found that running is your passion, you deserve it, no it is your obligation to excel and reach your potential. If not in your hobby where then?
And success, this does not equate to places. Of course, if you are a regular podium finisher congratulations. Really well done and keep it up you are a source of inspiration.
To the rest of the field, I mean let’s face it, there are only three places on that podium so that leaves a bunch of us getting pleasure from our internal goals, at having succeeded despite many reasons, obstacles along the way. Heck, daily life. You need leadership qualities. Self-management. The last thing you want to talk about. How do you manage yourself, without starving yourself of oxygen? There are of course many different ways, and approaches. It is important to first try something, you know, watch out for that little kid syndrome “I don’t want it” and the mom replies “you haven’t even tried it yet”. Good you are starting out with the blog, there are some books if you are interested in a running streak, and of course check out some of our YouTube videos.
If your goal is to one day look back at a healthy running career where you know you did the best with whatever you had. You can say. Yes I have been a #no excuses runner for some time now.
And this all has to do with development. Working on yourself. If something is there if you are not so satisfied. And it is in your hands. Yes blaming, politics, boss, wife, husband, ex-husband you can blame them all, but to do this you need to gain some perspective. You need time to reflect and identify certain patterns that keep on appearing. And that is where you can make some changes.
Developing yourself is not complicated. Identifying what are the obstacles. Sometimes it is just negative self-talk or limiting beliefs that need to be found. Hey quite often if others have talked down on us, we jumped right on that and continue to do so internally. All by ourselves. The negative self-talk, the doubting, ensures that especially if this is an environment you work or live in, you need to ensure it doesn’t grab a foothold in your brain.
And of course, what we also talk about is goals, how to identify, set and reach them. Yes, basics I hear you say. And correct you are, but you would be surprised how many people seem to have the same new year’s resolution year after year after year. For some it is ready to lose weight. For others it says go running every day. Ha, and they wonder why they never achieve it. Oh, doesn’t this apply to regular runners?
Well, you would be surprised that in a goal setting exercise there are hidden dreams that suddenly come to light. They are so well hidden, and nearly forgotten and with a yes, normal old fashioned if you like, goal setting exercise DOING it, USING it, these vital points are uncovered.
Seriously, sometimes when I mention this I see the ambitious runner you know, the one who “just gives me the miles I need to run” oh and it can be a he or a she. Blind ambition in runners doesn’t know gender.
Then to see their look on their faces when the goal setting exercise suddenly reveals that their alignment is out. See, intention doesn’t determine where you end up. It is direction. You know this.
And yes, I know what I am talking about, no not because I have studied this material Well yes I have but I mean, I know what I am talking about because I struggled with some run times in my 35 years of running. One event in particular that I still have to improve upon. But it is exactly such struggles which ensured that I read every possible book I could find that would offer me steps in a way I could relate to and understand. Without it being made out to be some scientific Astronaut assessment program.
Focused activity. That is a major part of goal achievement. For this you need to let something go. You need to channel your energy and that’s where you will get results. So if now whilst reading this, your mind drifted and you remembered things that didn’t work out, that is just a distraction. Come back, focus on what can be done. On what lies ahead. Once you add energy, it becomes dynamic, that and discipline are vital factors when we talk about motivation. But it is so much easier to give an inspirational Facebook post a like, is it not? Or to give a “well done” to some unknown runner.
Stay here, become a regular listener and you will hear that there is a constant message, where we ensure you look and question whether what you are doing will lead you to where you want to go.
The most common question by far is, how do I get motivated? Do you think it is for lack of tools that runners struggle with this?
That google somehow failed when you enter running motivation on GOOGLE the reply is “sorry, nothing out there”. Ha, LOL of course not.
The issue with motivation is that the steps are not adhered to. That quote you might have heard many times already, Zig Ziglar where he explains that after Sunday lunch he sits by the fireplace, has a good fire going, and then nods off. He wakes up as the fire has just about died down, and then (and he has this great way to tell it) he just adds another log of wood, stirs a bit, and the fire gets going again.
Come on, this is basic stuff. But we struggle with it. Fact.
And if you are serious about getting ahead with your running, I invite you to check out hypnorun.com to select the course that resonates with your major issue. No risk, money back, based on years of effective coaching with runners.
It is all about changing underlying thoughts and ideas.
See, working with the subconscious mind is something that I learnt hands on. Means, during coaching certifications, and motivation develop or train the trainer degrees. What I want to say is, don’t get confused when you hear the word subconscious and immediately this image of a bearded middle-aged gentleman will listen as you talk about your childhood. Also don’t associate it with Freud and some of his better-known quotes.
To work with the subconscious is something, and this I understood and experienced whilst being trained as a hypnotherapist, is a procedure you can learn. You yourself can and should do this on a regular basis. To realign yourself, ensure those millions of dollars marketers are throwing at you don’t produce results, and your house is full of stuff you couldn’t afford, to impress people you don’t even like, and your running is not the priority you wish it was.
The subconscious mind does not take 1.000 hours of psychotherapy. Diving back into your childhood, you can access it anytime you want to. And if you do this, it unleashes a whole new level of potential. I am talking about Donkey Kong, next level type of stuff. You know what I mean, Donkey Kong, that excitement when FINALLY you made it to the next level. That type of buzz or emotion. That is when you really can tap into resources. Actually, the fancy name for this is neuroplasticity. Oh no, now he wants to impress us with fancy words. No I don’t.
It is just the ability or the capability of nerve cells to adapt to circumstances. To respond to stimulation by making new connections or referred to as synapsis. There. You have the potential to do that. How, well Hypnorun.com that is where the most detailed brain training guide is waiting for you.
Made for runners, by runners. And oh, this neuroplasticity, a big factor of this is what goes on or what movie plays through our minds during the day, that is what visualization actually means. And this is something that I really would like to blog about, and again it is an easy to learn process, but you need to invest time. Sorry, I know you are used to everything being broken down into 1,2, 3 easy steps.
No, that’s too much Geek and internet talk. We humans are smarter than that. Powerful tools that are based on traits that are already in your mind. We just don’t use it enough, don’t talk about these processes. So we don’t know how to activate them. And once you know how to do that, running, motivation, inspiration, all that becomes easier.
It is like a turbo boost. Especially those of you that need to hear this. No idea how and why you found and came to be reading this blog today.
Must be that you are on your way to becoming a better stronger and smarter runner. Hey perhaps it is just your process to further advance your self-esteem related to your run story you are creating.
Doesn’t matter what your running dream is, you should use these effective tools, and then really JUST DO IT. Such a good slogan.
But this one is better 2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.
Hey, thanks for your time. God bless you and remember, take it easy.
A improved run result due to a improved attitude? And if your first thought is “I couldn’t do that” then definitely you should get the book. The link to the video you know what.. just go to youtube, enter “heiko stribl” (and whilst scrolling stay focussed or you will get sidetracked and end up somewhere you don’t want to be).
Life is too short for that.
If you want to learn more brain training related tools especially designed for runners, have a look at www.heikostribl.com, you can go back to your cell phone addiction and scroll scroll scroll ha.. Just kidding. No, not about the www.heikostribl.com part.
