Mental Edge

What do you do to gain the mental edge? Here are some steps you can take.

Things to do daily

• Put your goal card in a place where you can see it daily.
• Record all training sessions.
• Record your resting heart rate.
• Record any comments, how you felt today, etc.
• Record the number of hours sleep.
• Record your best practice sets and times.
• Always restate your goals in a positive tense form as needed.

Dreams are passive; they come to you. Goals are active; you must plan for, work for, and move toward your goals!

Setting Goals

• "Goals are dreams with a time limit,"
• Setting goals gives you a "road map" to future success in swimming or any other ambition. If you want to go to New York City, you could just drive east. But doesn’t it make more sense to look at a map and devise a plan? A lot more people succeed with planning and hard work than by accident.
• Goals should be far-reaching and challenging. We were put on this Earth to make something of ourselves! How great can you be? Setting easy goals and having them come easily is just not living life to the fullest! 
• "Possibility" (what might or could be true) is just a little further reach than "reality" (what is or will be). Your goals should reach into that realm of possibility.
• There is no real failure in trying, in dedicating yourself to being your best. If you don’t make your distant goal, aren’t you still a better person for setting those goals and working for them?

Use Positive self-talk

• Visualizing your goals; "Seeing (and Saying) is Believing"
• Write your goals down, and put them where you will constantly see them. Find a place in your room, or in your notebook, or on a piece of your equipment. The more often you see it, the more it will be part of you and your consciousness. BE CREATIVE!
• Try a "stair step" diagram, with your ultimate goal at the top of the stairs in the upper right hand corner of the page. Draw a number of broad steps down from the top to the lower left; the number of steps should correspond to the number of years or seasons to your ultimate goal. Then start to fill in the intermediate goals you’ll need to accomplish to reach the top. Write down daily goals beneath the steps. These are the supporting attitudes and skills you know you will need for success. You can use this method for other goals as well!
• Keep a journal to help you track your progress. Find your strengths and weaknesses. Give yourself a pat on the back when you deserve it. Most of all, know where you are at all times on your journey. Know your times!
• Use post-its or index cards to remind you of your daily goals. Spend some time each evening thinking and writing what you want to accomplish the next day. Carry it with you the next day until you achieve it. Consider doing the same for your meet goals.
• Talk about your goals with your coach, your family, your teammates and friends. It’s great to have support and help along the way, to have other people believing in you, too. This can also get you through the hard times, and keep you focused.