Where Are You Motivation?

Hey Everyone,

It has been a miserable week here in Sydney with the sun only just appearing today. It has made training very difficult. Couple that with an unusual lack of motivation and this week has been less than ideal. I am usually a pretty motivated guy and now that my work/life/study balance is a lot better I have expected to be able to start putting in some really good training. Ever since last week I have been feeling off. Not only with my tri training but also when I played soccer on the weekend. It took me a good 20 minutes to get my head into the match which is not usually an issue for me. So how can I deal with this lack of motivation to get myself back on track?

I am sure at the moment that I am not stressed. I am also sure that my body is not too physically fatigued either. Instead I am just not really interested in much at the moment. I went to a football game the other night and hardly paid any attention to it. The same thing goes for university. I am just going through the motions at the moment. I am trying to work on all the things that I can control like my diet, alcohol consumption and rest. I realise how important what I put into my body is to maintain my performance. Maybe it is the change of seasons or maybe it is just this crazy wet weather we have been experiencing.

Yesterday I had the privilege of being interviewed by a great guy I know called Nick for his podcast. Nick has recently written a book with the help of Joanne Baxas called The Macca Model. It is a cheap book to buy and all money from its sale goes to charity so grab it if you can. Well during the interview we focused on three aspects: Mind, body and soul. He also explained to me how much my journey has meant to him as well as others. It is funny but when you are living it you don't always realise the impact you can have on people. It made me realise that the people who read this blog or follow me on Instagram have been reaching out to me to tell me how I have had an impact on them. It left me speechless when it was all laid out like that in front of me. It helped me to get a little motivated again. It also made me think about the people that motivate and inspire me. 

So that is what I want to do. I want to single out some of the people that make me want to keep moving forward. People that have motivated me. I apologise in advance as I am no doubt going to miss people but in no particular order let's begin. Firstly my brother Luke. He always said he wanted to be a pilot. I never ever ever thought that he would actually get through the degree let alone get a job. He is now a First Officer with QANTAS. Luke's ability to chase his dreams inspired me to apply for law school. He is also probably the only person that I am truly competitive with. He brings out that desire to constantly improve myself. My wife has an amazing work ethic. She puts her heart and soul into her work. She not only gives it 100% but loves what she does. I love to think about this when I am not enjoying my training. I remember to give it 100% and to remember that I do this for fun. There are so many members of my race team Team MaccaX that motivate me on a daily basis. Their stories from racing and training and facing adversary are a huge source of inspiration and motivation for me. There is my friend Rob, but I talked enough about him last week so Ill just name him and move on. There are of course the people like Chris McCormack, Chrissie Wellington, James Cracknell and Lance Armstrong that have motivated me to improve over the years but I reckon most people would find these people pretty motivating. 

But the people that I am sourcing the most motivation from these days are those people who are right now acknowledging there is something in their life which they are unhappy with and are trying to make a change. I have now been with several friends when they complete their first race or go for their first run and have people share their story with me or ask for advice. It has a huge impact on me and makes me want to keep doing what I am doing. As I spoke about last week, it takes incredible courage to identify things you are doing wrong and even more to make a change. So please, keep it coming. Continue to share your stories with me and with everyone in your circle, who knows, you may motivate someone else too. 

Sorry this week it is a little all over the place. As I have said, I am not really with it this week. But maybe you can help. Share with me a story that motivates you or someone you know. Ill keep plugging away. My training is really starting to get focused on preparing me for the big races I have coming up this year.

Train hard, stay motivated and remember to TRI!!!

My brother, sister and myself at my engagement party in 2009