I had my eye on the weather forecast for the whole of last week. Why? Because on Sunday I had to do a swimming test! It’s a long story, but I will spare you the details! I’ve never been a great swimmer, and always seemed to finish last in school galas!
Fortunately I met a swimming coach who pointed out two very small adjustments I could make so that I swam with less effort and got faster in the water.
The forecast, while the weather was great beach weather all week – showed that on Sunday morning at 8am, the wind would be between 20-30 knotts. From the wind direction I knew that would mean big waves, murky water – and for a fair-weather swimmer, not ideal conditions! Furthermore, I had to do the 400m swim in under 9 minutes. If you’re an experienced swimmer you’re probably wondering what I was stressing about – but if you’re a very mediocre swimmer like me, you’ll know that you need to swim consistently to get your goal!
Sunday arrives, we’re all ready for our swim at Sorrento beach. The wind wasn’t quite as strong as predicted, but the swell was big – and the normally turquoise water was a dull grey.
I decided to jump in and swim anyway, even though I wasn’t as fit as I could have been and the conditions were not ideal. We swum in the direction that the wind and tide was going – and I managed to do my swim with 15 seconds to spare! If the truth be told, I think the wind and tide really helped me along. What I had thought were not going to be ideal conditions were in fact the very conditions that helped me get my goal. Would I have done my time if the sea was flat, the sun shining and there was no wind? I’m not sure. What I do know is that I was aided by the tide.
Perhaps you’re experiencing less-than-ideal conditions right now? Perhaps you’ve been through a patch of turbulent seas and high winds?
What difference would it make if you knew that the turbulent conditions that you’re fearing, are the exact conditions that will help you get where you’re going even faster than you could if the ‘water was flat’?
Sometimes you simply have to jump in and swim! A bit of training in advance is good, and working with a coach who is trained to spot corrections that will help you expend less effort to get better results is also advisable. On the other hand, if you have never swum at all, jumping into a turbulent sea could be fatal. Find others who have done what you want to do, and learn from them. Let them teach you what you need to know so that you can make the most of whatever conditions come your way.
If I hadn’t ‘given it a go’ and tried to reach my goal even though the conditions didn’t look good, I wouldn’t have done it. If you’re standing on the sidelines wondering if now is the time to get started on your goal that you’ve been training for, what are you waiting for?
Tomorrow is a new day – and everyday is Chooseday!
Kind regards
Jill Hutchison
Platform Speaker
Mindset Coach
Perth, Australia
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