The first aspect of any training process should include some form of self assessment. Mental training is no different. Before beginning, we should work our comfort with mental toughness, fun, intensity and execution we should consider the current status of our mental health. A good starting place is establishing what perspective we bring to our fitness routine and goals. People rarely realize that our perspectives don't just impact how we see the world, but also how we see ourselves. I think that for the purposes of athletic assessment we should be aware of our tendencies toward either 'self love' or 'self hate'. Self lovers often overlook their weaknesses and highlight their strengths. Self haters often focus on negative aspects of themselves and fail to notice the positive things they are doing. Being aware of these tendencies helps us to more accurately gauge ourselves.
Once aware of our perspective we can begin to asses our body image, as well as fitness levels. I think it is especially important to separate our fitness from our body image/goals. In many cases people have high levels of fitness but are displeased with their body. Often this is the result of competing with people other than ourselves.
When assessing body image it is important to pay attention to who we are comparing ourselves to. People have a tendency to envy different aspects of different individuals without taking note of the whole person. We want to bike like Lance Armstrong but with Arnold's torso. My favorite example of this is the fitness models featured on the cover of "Runner's World." Those folks are allways bulging with pectorals and triceps-muscles that 90% of competitive runners do not have. The reason is simple, big pectorals make you a slower runner. That said, if we are not careful to separate our fitness goals from desired body image it would be easy to gain neither the body nor fitness we desired.
The final aspect of our self assessment should determine whether our fitness goals are going to help or hinder us in achieving positive self image. I would wager that many of us do not actually know if the training we are doing will make us look how we want. Therefore, we must adjust our training to achieve a certain body type. Or we can try to go the route I prefer; become comfortable and happy with the body we will achieve by participating in whatever activities we love the most.
After assessing our current mental health, physical fitness and self image we should attempt to improve each of those aspects of our lives. Achieving success in any of those territories will require mental toughness- the subject of our next post.
