DISCIPLINE AND PASSION
"Total commitment to your goal, which is what a mission is,
eventually produces passion. But dedication and discipline precede passion.
In other words, you may not be passionate about your goal initially, but
the more disciplined you are in working towards it, the greater your passion
will become." Joe Friel, Triathlete's Training Bible, 4th edition.
For me, those words from Friel brought to life the exact feeling I
have noticed growing, as my glacial movement to return to racing form has been
taking shape. Let me explain a bit further.
In our culture it seems we often have this concept of working
toward goals backward. We think that if we have enough passion for something,
the motivation and discipline will somehow magically happen. When the
passion is lacking, we start second guessing ourselves, our goal, and whether
or not the effort is worth it. We start
listening to negative thoughts in our heads.
In my life, I have approached goals each way, with significantly
different outcomes. Most recently, I have decided to entertain the idea
of racing competitively again at the prompting of many of my athletes (for some
reason they want to see me race too). After no less than 12 months of this
prompting, I started to let the possibility roll around in my mind and consider
what this might look like. To be completely honest, at first the idea
scared me beyond belief. Why does it scare me so much? For starters
I am not easy on myself. Doubt - doubt that I will be able to ever perform
at the level I feel I could if I really apply the abilities I have been given.
Anxiety - anxiety that I will allow my life to fall out of balance and
will miss out on what is most important in my life, my family. Fear - the
fear of letting others down (which is likely just a made-up, fictitious fear
that has no basis in reality). Knowing what will be required to perform
at the level I would expect of myself, while balancing family, business and
life, is at the same time frightening and extremely exciting.
What I find so true from Friel's words is that the more I apply
myself to the tasks that I can control, such as the standing date with my bike
and trainer at o'dark thirty in the morning, the more I have a growing passion to
return to racing.
Is it easy to get out of bed in the morning? It sure wasn't
for the first several weeks. I would find myself lying in bed, thinking
of all the things that I had to do before I could actually get on my bike and
ride. Find my riding clothes, move
random junk out of the way so I can get to my bike, set the bike up, get a
water bottle filled, set up a fan, set up my computer, find my HR monitor…and
the list went on. These distractions were much worse if I had stayed up
too late; being dedicated, it turned out, started the night before I had a
planned workout.
I find that being disciplined to do these things the night before
helps me remain dedicated to getting on my bike more days than not. While
this initially seemed like a small victory in the pursuit of my goal, it now
has the feeling of the start of something bigger. Being disciplined and
dedicated does really bring about passion.
It can make what seems like a distant dream begin to come into
focus. My excitement, motivation, and
passion increase the more I am disciplined and dedicated to the work.
Based on my experiences coaching, mentoring, and interacting with
others, I know I am not unique in this. This
relationship between discipline and passion does not only apply to
physical-fitness related goals; it applies to all types of goals. If you are feeling a lack of motivation and
passion, push through with your commitment to discipline, and expect to see
your passion grow over time!