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This month presented some challenges for me with regards to my training schedule.

Mainly, it is because I have been overseas a great deal teaching, and I’ve had a lot of teaching here in the UK both locally and in central London. It has not been practical due to the nature of my schedules and destinations to be able to train.

I have a range of other excuses which to be brutally honest could have given me the chance to step out of more training sessions, and I kept on being inspired to get out in the snow, rain, winds and following distracting life events (we have had a death in our family, poorly children and more besides), to keep pushing a driving myself on. One of my main sources of inspiration is a former Navy Seal in the US, an endurance athlete and motivational speaker called David Goggins, I just love his no-nonsense brand of motivation.

David Goggins, on his Facebook page wrote this just over a week ago…..

Just wake the fuck up!

I get asked all the time how do I do it- how do I find the motivation to workout everyday? Well, that so-called motivation died out 30k running miles ago. I’m sorry, there is no secret. Some people write books, articles, etc., on ways for you to find motivation to workout. Most of it is BS. I speak from experience. You don’t become 300lbs twice in your life because you love running! Yes, some people love working out, well Merry Christmas to you. Personally I hate the shit!

Every morning putting on those fucking running shoes and then stepping outside in the cold, hot, rain, snow, etc. You get my point. I’m just keeping it real! Yes, attitude is everything but shit still sucks! This is why in 2014 the obesity rates were 34.3% in men and 38.3% in women. The shit sucks…period!

On your bad days, when you feel like a tortured soul, that is when you can really win the battle against yourself! If, on your worst days you can pull off your best performances, that’s when your mind truly starts to shift! Win that battle and it will move the mental needle!

It’s easy to win when life’s your best friend but when it’s choking you out is when you truly grow. Sometimes there is no light at the end of the fucking tunnel but you still have to go in!!!! There may be no light at the end but, there is a better you! Start conditioning your mind to walk in the darkness. Trust me, the more you walk in it the better your eyes will adjust to it!

Visit David Goggins website for more information about him.

I love what he wrote here. In the past week, I’ve been out running in some awful conditions and have not enjoyed most of the runs, I posted this on my Social Media at the weekend:

Stepping out in the darkness this morning was not fun. Pouring with rain, windy, feeling tired where one child was up sick in the night and the other was playing up. This was not a fun run, legs heavy, mind distracted. Hard miles are those that get you across the line in ultra marathons though….. ”

And here I am in the pouring rain again this morning. I wrote; “The squint and the flag in the background say it all! It is raining hard and sideways gale force sea front winds are making for some fun times with my ultra marathon training schedule….

Inspiration is all well and good, and external motivation from sources is good, but sometimes we have to grind out the results we want and just keep on. The title of my favourite ultra running book “Relentless Forward Progress” says it all really. Sometimes we do not have to convince ourselves that we love running, instead we need to convince ourselves that we can take action and win the battle with ourselves. The more we grind it out, the more we suck it up, the more we continue to develop and learn about who and how we are.

As David Goggins says, sometimes we have to keep on pushing ourselves into the darkness, when we really don’t feel like it and when conditions are not perfect and when there is some circumstance making it challenging, and that is tough, but ultimately rewarding. That’s where I am at right now. It is a slog, it is tough, it is not that enjoyable, but I’m getting the miles done one way or another and know that I am going to prevail mentally as a result.

Here are a couple of articles I think will help you a great deal, they are filled with strategies that have been helping me massively in recent weeks:

a) 7 Evidence Based Ways To Boost Your Willpower Today.
b) Using Self-Hypnosis To Help Running Performance In Strong Winds.
c) Goal-Focused Ways To Increase Mental Toughness.
d) Ways to Master the Art of Grit and Perseverance.

Remember, stay strong…..

There’ll more soon, and now I’m getting to some serious mileage levels, I’ll be writing about some more in depth psychological approaches here soon too.

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If you’d like to learn more or if this has resonated with you in some way, then visit these pages:

1. Has poor psychology held you back from performing at your best? Would you benefit from advancing your mental game?
Coaching with Adam Eason Or Hypnotherapy with Adam Eason
2. Would you like a satisfying and meaningful career as a hypnotherapist helping others performa better?
Adam Eason’s Anglo European training college.
3. Have you read my book Hypnosis for Running: Training Your Mind to Maximise Your Running Performance? It helps any runner, athlete or sportsperson maximise performance.

Likewise, if you’d like to learn more about self-hypnosis, understand the evidence based principles of it from a scientific perspective and learn how to apply it to many areas of your life while having fun and in a safe environment and have the opportunity to test everything you learn, then come and join me for my one day seminar which does all that and more, have a read here: The Science of Self-Hypnosis Seminar. Alternatively, go grab a copy of my Science of self-hypnosis book.