- How well do you know yourself & your VALUES?
- How aligned are you with your VALUES?
- How aligned are you with your organisation’s culture & values?
If you are not really living by your values, you will probably not feel truly whole/happy/fulfilled!
When I did my British Triathlon Level 3 High Performance Coaching Course & they asked me to think about what my values were, and I was stumped! I had no idea what values were never mind what mine were! I climbed a mountain to try to figure out what my values were (not literally). It was only when I read a book mentioning them as morals that it clicked! I wrote down all my morals/values but then I also asked friends & family what they thought my values were & this was very interesting, most were the same but there were some that I had never thought of, but asking others shows what you are portraying to the outside world, & will make you think, am I portraying my true self…….
Remember values are not goals or rules, they are not something you achieve, they are what you live by to your core & truly believe in & they are personal to YOU! You need to think carefully when determining your values as upbringing, environment, and work (think army who install their values on soldiers), other people can influence your values BUT they need to be YOUR OWN CORE VALUES!
Values guide us in everything we do, decision-making, actions & purpose. They give our lives direction & meaning, they guide us to who we truly are & this is why it is important to know your values.
By living by your values, you can live a more meaningful life!
You may be asking, what has this got to do with triathlon coaching or any sports coaching?
By understanding an athlete’s values:
- Will determine if you will work together well as a coach & athlete & I don’t mean your values have to be completely aligned, more like, will your values work well with each other?
- The coach will understand the athlete better knowing what is important to them.
How will the athlete knowing their own values help them with their training?
Think of what kind of athlete you want to be & write it down, below are just some examples, of things that would help your training. Now see if what you have written down aligns with your values!
- Keeping an optimistic attitude
- Accepting mistakes is a great way to learn & improve.
- Look more positively at things.
- Being positive about yourself – self-belief.
- Being grateful you can train.
- Prepared for hard work.
Athletic values involve how you want to think, feel & behave as an athlete but they need to align with your core values!
When you know your values, you gain more self-awareness and self-control, a better way of evaluating/reflecting on your training, and a strategy to improve focus.
Write your values down & read over them every day to engrain them in your mind to instil these values in how you want to be as an athlete.
Then you need to focus on these values during your training, the more you aim to align with your values the more control & awareness you will have & the easier it will be to live your values & be the athlete you want to be.