I’m a bit of a weirdo when it comes to planning and organizing my week.
I have a weekly to do list. I have a daily to do list. I even a “to don’t” list. (Seriously.)
And then there are the logs I keep. (Yes, not "log", but "logs". Told you I'm a weirdo.)
In fact, I spend so much time thinking and planning the stuff I want to do that the act of actually doing them kinda gets brushed aside.
Oops.
A big “ah ha” moment came to me when I realized that an easier way to go about achieving the stuff I want from the pool and life is to break down exactly what my day will need to look like to get there, and then living that day starting immediately.
Let me explain a little further…
We spend all this time thinking about that big pot of gold medals at the end of the rainbow that we forget to focus on the things we need to do right now to get there.
Fantasizing is fun, easy, and it ironically enough, our little daydreams feel just good enough—our brains can’t tell the difference between imagined and actual experiences—that it lulls us into not having to do anything. (Isn’t that a kick in the pants…)
So how can we fix this?
Take a break from your daydreaming for a couple minutes, grab a pen or pencil, and let’s do a quick bit of homework. (It’ll be easy, I swear. And as long as you do it, you get an A+. And a blue star. And a participation ribbon. Boom.)
At the top of a piece of paper, or in the notes section of your cell phone, tablet or space calculator, write out that big goal. Whatever it is, don’t spend any time thinking about whether or not you have enough time, or if your teammates are going to laugh at you, or if coach thinks your nuts.
Just write it. Don’t overthink it, just blurt it out.
For the purposes of this exercise, the schedule is far more important than the goal. With a proper schedule in place you will achieve great stuff. Period. The goal almost becomes inconsequential.
Now.
The fun part…
The effective part…
To get to that goal, to be that swimmer, to achieve at the levels you dream of…
What is your typical day going to look like? In other words, what are you going to have to do on a daily basis to make this happen?
This might come as a bit of a shell shock moment to those swimmers who prefer to languish in their daydreams, safe from the harsh demands that excellence requires, but for the rest, it’s a mildly exhilirating moment where you can draw a clear connection between where you are at this very moment and where you want to be.
Think on it… and write it out. From sunrise to sunset, what are you going to have to do on a daily basis to make that goal a reality?
- If your starts stink, are you going to spend an extra five minutes after practice with coach each day?
- In order to improve your turns, are you going to hammer out quickly and snappy flip-turns through the whole workout?
- If you catch yourself staying up far too late every night watching TV or texting your friends, are you going to create a cut-off point so that you get the sleep you need?
Write it out, and tomorrow, when you wake up, be that swimmer.
See you at the pool,
Olivier
P.S. Did you know that YourSwimBook is guaranteed to make you taller? Nah, I’m kidding. But it can certainly help you swim faster, and that’s the next best thing. Get yours today.
