2. Comenzar con un fin en la mente. Todos tenemos una prueba en mente y nos imaginamos cruzando el arco de meta. Pocos triatletas no tienen un objetivo marcado cuando entrenan. Valga como ejemplo el que muchas pruebas pongan el cartel de vendido casi un año antes de que se dispute.
Muchos pensarán que “estás loco por entrenar tanto tiempo, por gastar tal cantidad de dinero en deporte…”, pero tú bien sabes que la inversión tiene un retorno mucho mayor. Si no fueses triatleta…¿Cómo sería tu vida cotidiana?
Covey, S. (1997). Los 7 Hábitos de la gente altamente efectiva, Barcelona: Paidós.
If you’re a triathlete, you must have some habits. The requirement to train for triathlons involves adopting a lifestyle that other people may not understand. Organisation, sacrifice, persistence, frustration and tolerance are some characteristics that are easy to find in most triathletes. Fortunately, all these qualities are also evident in their lives outside of the sport.
Stephen R. Covey published “The 7 habits of highly effective people” in 1989 and has sold over 15 million copies. The book explains how highly effective people feature 7 habits. The first 3 (being proactive, beginning with the end in mind and prioritising) are intrapersonal, also considered private victories. The next 3 (think win-win, seek first to understand and then to be understood and synergise) are interpersonal, or public victories. The seventh is to sharpen the saw.
Why are triathletes highly effective? Because usually we possess these 7 Habits: We live them for triathlons and also adopt them into our everyday lives. Competing in triathlons is not just about doing a sport, it’s to live in a more efficient way.
Here are the 7 habits and the way in which triathletes live them.
The 7 habits of highly effective people
Stephen R. Covey
1 Be proactive. We are pure productivity, nobody needs to help us to start being this way, many times people encourage us to slow down, or even to stop. If we want something we go for it and that’s that. We hate when we have to stop and we hate wasting time. We become something epic just by exerting our usual effort.
2 Starting with the end in mind. We all have a competition in mind and we imagine ourself crossing the finishing line. Most Triathletes have a marked target that they are training for. Take for example that many competitions are sold out almost a year before the race day.
3 Prioritise. The most important things go first. We are specialists in organising our time and managing our resources to optimise them. We are able to wake up at 5am to train if we have a busy schedule but also able to train less if someone needs us.
4 Think win-win. Overall, the triathlon world is cooperative. We don´t mind sharing our training, advising and responding to someone about what we do. Also, we are generous with our material. We like to train in groups because that way we all improve. Personally, I´m amazed how fully triathletes live this habit.
5 First listen to understand and after be heard. To browse, read, be advised and feed ourself with knowledge is common among triathletes. It is common to contract a coach to plan our training.
6 Synergy. Triathlons are not the sum of swimming, cycling and running; it is something bigger. Our sport is a clear example that three concepts together are better than split. We also like to compete in other sports and we are able to generate different triathlon modalities and alternatives, playing with distances, different legs… are triathlons not the most innovative sport?
Intrapersonally, triathletes don’t resign when something seems impossible to achieve, we always find the best way to do it well.
7 Sharpen the Saw. This is about continuous improvement. A triathlete is always looking to go further, wants to go longer distances and/or do it faster. We continually seek the latest gear, improve our diet and compete in new races. We analyse our competitions searching for ways to improve and to do it better next time.
Many people would think that you are crazy to train so many long hours or because you spend so much money on the sport, but you know that the investment has a much higher return. If you weren’t a triathlete…what would your daily life be like?
Reference
Covey, S. (1997). Los 7 Hábitos de la gente altamente efectiva, Barcelona: Paidós.
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