I Am An Athlete

Sometimes a psychologist needs help too!

The fourth in a series of posts, sharing my personal journey from a fat and grumpy sad sack during nine months of personal training sessions ... to something much better!

    Introduction

    At the beginning of this year, I embarked on a new lifestyle path because I finally became so sick to death of myself that I knew I needed to do things differently.

    Having tried and failed many times before, I finally came to terms with the main saboteur in my life – ME! By doing some intense self-reflection whilst consistently working with my trainer, I was able to make a major breakthrough that unleashed my inner light.

    Renewed Energy

    A sneak peek into the future - April 2014

    A sneak peek into the future - April 2014

    The biggest bonus from this stage is the energy I now exude which I can focus on almost any task – mental or physical. I seem able to achieve more than I had previously allowed myself to dream possible.

    Every aspect of my life is reaping the rewards. My family find me more present, as I share special times with them I could only dream about before, and my work life is vibrant and exciting once more.

    I have discovered a fresh enthusiasm for helping others reclaim their own energy, vibrancy and joy.

    For many years we have encouraged our own staff in their healthful endeavours, but now my attention is focused on creating cultures of healthier workplaces within our client base of small, medium and large employers. I am equally excited to be applying our health and wellness approach to assist both profit and not-for-profit organisations.

    I am finding this to be a win-win-win scenario for businesses who participate in our programs, with the benefits stretching far wider than can even first be imagined.

    While many people are bemoaning the stresses of modern living, imagine a workplace that:

    • supports healthier choices,
    • creates a nurturing community,
    • has reduced absenteeism,
    • sees boosted productivity,
    • and has the ability to retain staff with incredible loyalty, because it is such a desirable place to work.

    This is my vision for healthier workplaces, and my passion is to help management and business owners to create them.

    6 Months – A Different Me Emerges

    Meanwhile, I have been making progress on my own journey to health and vitality ...

    July 2013:  How magnificent, rewarding, invigorating and inspiring to myself, do I feel, each day?  

    I am amazed as my physical speed, strength, power, endurance and flexibility almost effortlessly continue to increase. It is a far cry from the sad, fat, tired me of January!

    This committed focus on my health, exercise and nutrition routines has become a delightful new way of life.

    Most importantly, these positive changes in behaviour have become an integrated and habit-based part of my identity.

    In particular, I now have the confidence and self belief to visualise myself as a developing athlete.

    Yet again, the initial daring and guidance to step into this deeper identity has come from my gifted personal trainer - an athlete whom I have recently, come to see as “just like me”.

    Peter with his personal trainer Nikki

    Peter with his personal trainer Nikki

    In other words, I know I am good enough, after our 6 month journey together of reshaping my body and coaching my deeper mental discipline, to train and perform at a similar level to this fitness industry professional.

    Even better, the sincerity, wisdom and openness with which my trainer has modelled the behaviours and patterns of their own healthy ways to me, means I routinely now think a lot like an athlete would.

    I can immediately tell the difference that proper rest and nutrition and right training technique makes to my physical results and appearance.

    I will always make time for my proper health

    Psychologically, I now understand within every fibre of my being, that I will always make time for my proper health, and that this needs to be my first foundation or fundamental priority.

    My trainer still has to guide me on tolerance, patience and acceptance of my current physical limitations and self distractions, that can occasionally take me off track.

    Otherwise the “little boy” born again youthful excitement of pure athletic activity, just for the fun of it, might lead me to over training, injury and/or frustration in trying to overreach too far too soon.

    I Am An Athlete

    So with the proper guidance, I tap patiently and respectfully into my body’s own wisdom and patterns at a deeper and deeper level.  Becoming more aware, that I am retraining my brain patterns, muscle receptor triggers and neurophysiology at a profoundly significant level.

    Indeed, I have the very clear realisation, that I have already mentally created and visualised the feel and delight of being an athlete.  An athlete, not to compete against others, but to just powerfully feel energetically alive.

    My work with my trainer is now a much more equal partnership, as we seek out how to bring forth from within myself, the beautifully strong and inbuilt physical capacities of my own body.

    I sense that my body is like a fine marbled block of granite - very strong and with deep potential.

    The fun work for us, is to sculpt, chisel and fine tune. To bring clearly and more translucently to the surface, the personal delight of living in a fit athletic body.

    This is a truer body that has always been mine. Simply hidden over the years by layers of poor choices and misinformation, that I previously falsely held onto for far too long.

    I now see it as normal and routine to consult with allied health professionals ( eg physiotherapists, nutritionists).

    In partnership with my trainer, I tap into a network of motivated professionals who are part of this great new world to me of health, wellbeing and athletic fitness/higher performance, as a natural part of everyday life.

    Yet again, I am delighted, and appreciate at a pure instinctive level, that I have found the right personal trainer for me, a professional who can resonate with and guide me into stepping deeply into my true potential. Seeing these capabilities in another, is profoundly changing my life for the better!

    The Transformation continues...

    You would think my transformational journey is finished with this new inner belief and patterns I have embraced. I have already achieved more than I believed possible just six months ago … but my transformation is NOT finished.

    There is one more stage beyond my realisation of my own physical capabilities, latent potential and new core inner beliefs. It has taken me to places I really did not dream possible. The final blog will share my insights into this final stage of my ongoing transformation and I will reveal my progress to date as well as the raw insights I have thus far seen.

    The momentum of my transformation has almost become exponential and would have thought it was nearing an end … but now I realise… this is just the beginning …

    My personal transformational journey with its highs, lows, successes, failures, intense reflections and massive education in the realms of health and allied concepts from my personal trainer, along with the my professional expertise, psychological insights, knowledge and business focus, mean that I am now more than ever impassioned to create a committed and integrated health, wellbeing and coaching offering for businesses.

    This unique modular approach marries healthier lifestyle practices into a business or workplace setting, to create real and enduring change.

    Ritualising the approach to a whole, participating individual through physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing, the objective is to create enhanced communication, higher functioning and thinking, and an environment that nurtures creativity, cements loyalty and overall creates a healthier workplace for all.

    Stepping out and beyond traditional workplace health programs, our modular program is more than just a personal trainer, membership at the gym or coaching sessions. Aside from my own results, we are seeing real results in workplace settings.

    Please feel free to comment below, or contact me directly for more information on our innovative new program especially designed for forward thinking workplaces looking for the edge in human resourcefulness.