Running for Success

Author: George Mishkachenkov


Though it may not seem like it when we're drenched in sweat and
our legs feel like lead, marathon running is as mental as
physical. When we're exhausted, continuing consists of mind over
matter. This takes enormous mental power. Once developed, this
skill can be transferred from the racetrack to the boardroom.

Training for a marathon is an ideal place to improve the skills
needed to achieve success in business: strategy, clear
objectives, and a positive attitude. These techniques are also
crucial to completing a marathon. Without them, even the most
fanatically fit athlete is doomed to fail. Through physical
training we can develop and master these skills.

In business, investment and marathon, a well-planned strategy is
essential. In each situation, we must commit to our plan, yet be
willing to adapt it if it isn't working. Though strategy can be
complex or simple, with our first marathon it's best to choose
the latter. Simplification is a great way to remove self-imposed
pressure. This can mean concentrating on maintaining a steady
heart rate or pace. We need to do this during both training and
our marathon, since sustaining this relaxed-focus helps remove
the barrier of performance anxiety.

The strategy of shifting attention to our body's sensations is
called association, and it's a tactic used by many elite
athletes. The self-focused introvert may find this more
comfortable than directing attention outside. The outgoing
extrovert, however, may be more suited to the disassociation
technique. This involves turning our awareness outward.
According to a report published in The Journal of Sports
Psychology: " Considerable evidence exists to link
disassociation strategies with increased pain tolerance during
endurance tasks." Disassociation may also useful during a dull
seminar, or an extended visit from our mother-in-law.

Just as business meetings have objectives, so should your
marathon training. Whatever your personal goal, it needs to be
specific, measurable, and reasonable. Similar to our
professional life, these can be accomplished by choosing to
focus on either the process or the outcome. In our business life
a process goal would be improving our customer relation skills,
while an outcome goal would be making X amount more dollars. For
your first marathon, process goals are better. Since meeting
them may be as simple as adhering to our training schedule, they
guarantee success. As we all know, success produces
self-confidence. Developing this gives us courage to challenge
ourselves to achieve greater victories. Outcome goals, like
beating a rival, are more risky. Since external factors can
interfere with them, they are harder to succeed at.

Many superior athletes use mental imagery, or guided
visualization. These include Marion Clignet, 1996 and 2000
silver medallist on the French cycling team, and 6 times Masters
winner Jack Nicklaus. Medical experts have also tested this
method. A recent article published in the Journal of Sports
Science states: "The power of mental imagery in sport
performance has been widely noted. Keep your thinking and mental
rehearsing of your upcoming races positive and it may contribute
to new personal records."

The importance of mental imagery is also noted in Olympic runner
Jeff Galloway's Marathon: You Can Do It. In this book, Galloway
encourages us to rehearse parts of our marathon every day. He
says that this will help us prepare for and find solutions to
problems we may encounter and help us "tough it out." This
strength doesn't end in out legs and lungs. Finishing a marathon
makes us more tenacious, helping us bring home "the gold" in
business.

Galina Pembroke is an internationally published writer. She is
also the publisher and editor of New View Magazine online. New
View gives you unique articles on health, self-help, animal
rights, spirituality and more.

Source http://www.fullarticles.org/a2/aerobics-cardio/

Visit us at http://www.nuvunow.ca.

About the author:
I am Cardio publisher and writer.

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