Confidence is key! You may have all the ability in the world to perform your best and achieve your goals, but if you don’t believe in your ability, you won’t achieve your goals! Just like your physical muscles, your ‘confidence muscle’ needs training, it too can be strong, injured or weak. In addition to your running and gym workouts, you also need to work on mentally installing and boosting your confidence based on your preparations.
Here are 4 factors to developing a strong confidence muscle….
- Preparation – preparation is one of the things you can control before your race. The more prepared you are, the more confident you will be.
- Develop a mental toolbox – every runner will experience difficulties at some point, these may include loss of motivation, decrease in confidence, race anxiety and various life distractions. Fill your toolbox with tools to help you mentally, such as relaxation techniques, self -talk, visualisation, being able to focus. Remember to practice developing these skills.
- Exposure to adversity – it’s not the event itself, it’s how you deal with it! So, when your training runs feel hard or the weather takes a turn for the worse, that’s OK, learn how to overcome it and you will feel more confident to respond positively if it happens on race day.
- Get a support team – support from family, friends, other runners, race marshalls and spectators will bolster your confidence and keep you staying positive until the finish line.
The main goal in developing your confidence muscle is to increase it, so it’s as strong as it can be, enabling your belief in yourself, so you can achieve your goal. Remember to celebrate your goals.
Happy Running!
Written by Consultant Health Psychologist Dr Sue Peacock from BMI The Saxon Clinic
