Accountability Patrol

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I received a text message this morning from John, a Good Wolf Coaching athlete, and someone I’ve been fortunate to call a friend the last several months. He’s a Marine officer and busy family man. Someone who is as battle-hardened in life and work as they come.

His officer training has ratcheted up, so finding time to work out has become difficult.

“I just keep coming up with ‘suck it up’, which isn’t helping,” he wrote.

I can relate. I’ve been trying to get back into “training mode” after hitting cruise (snooze?) control for the last several months. During the last week though, after “promising” myself I was ready to resume more hard-core tri training, I’ve struggled to get out of bed at 5 a.m. to put in the pool work — training I used to be able to do more readily before the birth of our second child a few weeks ago. Training I also blew off the last few months since my race season ended in July.

I tried half-heartedly to build a David Goggins-inspired “Accountability Mirror” for myself, a Post-It note filled mirror you stare into filled with tough self-love messages about things you’re trying to improve. Didn’t work. I wrote messages like, “Your swim sucks! You’re losing races before they even start! Fix it!”

Meh.

Nope, “HTFU” just isn’t cutting it right now. Sleep 1, Ryan 0.

Here’s what IS working, and how I started to advise John.

  • Instead of simply trying to harden up and get the sessions in at all costs, ask yourself instead, “What can I commit to?” I don’t care how small the commitment is, commit to something. 10 minutes of running in place? Great. 30 jumping jacks to wake up? Do it. It’s a start. Good habits start with small victories. I’m starting with one swim during the week at my local pool from 8:30-9:15 a.m. I’ll keep my existing Tower 26 Saturday morning swim as well, with the ultimate goal being to swim four days a week. It’s just going to take time to get to that point.

  • Next, think about your goals. What are they? How bad do you want to achieve them? Can you visualize achieving them? What’s it going to take? Are you willing to do what it takes to achieve your goals? Be honest with yourself.

  • Then, reduce your obstacles. What’s stopping you, and what options do you have for mitigating those barriers? In my case, I’ve got two choices. I can collaborate with Steph, my wife, on a plan for waking up early two mornings a week and set up a situation that will enable me to sleep earlier those two respective nights beforehand. Or, I can resolve myself to the current reality that I’m not going to wake up at 5 a.m. after shoddy nights of baby-induced sleep deprivation, and find ways to fit in training that won’t detract from quality time with my daughters. Yeah, that sounds more reasonable.

  • Finally, find an accountability buddy. In my case, it’s easy. John and I will help each other. We both need it! As John’s tri coach, it’s of course easier to be his accountability partner. That’s literally part of my job! On the flip side, John is going to hold me accountable too. Who better to do that than a Marine!? If it means bleary-eyed wake up calls or texts at Oh-Dark Thirty, I’m all in.

If you find yourself stuck in a rut or a motivational hole, I hope these tips help you dig yourself out.

Now, it’s off to bed…at least for a few hours.