A Natural Athlete

You don’t have it harder because you’re not a natural athlete.

You have it harder because you think you’re not a natural athlete.

Harder, because this thinking limits you.

Let’s start with the fact this mythical person you’re comparing to doesn’t exist.

A “natural athlete” is not an actual human, with a name, whose qualities you can measure - it’s an ideal. Or a “should be.”

When I ask clients to define “natural athlete,” they typically reply, “I know one when I see one.” If we press on, they give a vague list of qualities they believe they themselves lack. Usually, “confident, faster, and it looks like running is easier for them.”

But saying someone is confident and faster because they’re a natural athlete ignores the work they’ve done to get there.

That’s why comparing yourself like this makes it harder to run your best. It’s based on the assumption you’re either a natural athlete or you’re not - you can’t work for and attain it.

Your mind automatically perpetuates this. Since natural athlete is an ideal, your mind can always bump the definition up to keep it perpetually out of reach, like a carrot being forever dangled in front of a horse.

So it’s no wonder you give up trying to improve.

You probably accept the results you’re getting in races are the best you can do. Don’t train as well as you could. Shoot for finishing the same general time as last year. Downplay your running to others.

And voila, it’s harder for you to improve.

So why do we sabotage ourselves this way?

For the bigger payoff.

Telling yourself you have to work harder because you’re not a natural athlete is an excuse you unconsciously use to avoid stepping up to become the runner you want to be - which will take more training miles, require physical discomfort, and risk almost certain public failure.

All things your mind would very much like to avoid. It would rather you stay comfortably where you are.

But more IS actually possible for you.

You can be a natural athlete.

(In fact, you already are. We ALL have natural athletic ability. If you can walk, you have it.)

To become the naturally athletic person of your imagination, you’ve got to start from the inside out.

You’ve got to start thinking like her.

How does she choose goals - safe or daring?

How does she think about training - casual or disciplined?

How does she think during races - worry about a DNF or expect it to go well?

If you thought like a natural athlete, how would that change things?

It’s time to find out.

I help my clients do this - become the person they need to be to reach their goal.

Because you’re 10x more likely to reach your goal if you first become the person who knows she can do it.

It all starts with talking to me on the phone.

Use this link to schedule that call.

You’ll leave with clarity on your next steps forward.