Enthusiasm

This is something quick.

I think that the most important attitude to carry into training for almost anything is Enthusiasm.

I can’t think of one other word or emotional state that encapsulates everything I want out of people when I train them, or what I want to feel myself when I train. Enthusiasm implies all of what I want. Positivity, Readiness, Willingness to work hard, Energy, Love of the game (whatever that might be), and if you think about that word in terms of competitive performance, it implies that you are well prepared and ready to get stuck in to the job at hand.

If I am not enthusiastic about coaching this evening, I will under-perform at my job. If I don’t feel enthusiastic about training, I like to remind myself that I’m doing the sport I love, and although I don’t feel it right now, I won’t regret training that evening.

Some people use the word motivation in it’s place, but I don’t think it’s the same thing. It’s too goal focused. I can be motivated to go to the shop to buy milk because I want to drink some, but I don’t think I would approach that with any enthusiasm.

I think enthusiasm is missing from a lot of people’s training. We think a lot about medals and prizes, or strength gains, or fat loss, and we’re motivated to do those, but we cant always win, and we won’t always get the results we want. Enthusiasm for me implies the love of the task, as well as the prize. Think of the younger you, who played football all day not because you wanted to log 10,000 hours on the pitch, but because you had a ball, there was some grass, and you had your friends.

That’s not to say setting a goal of training more isn’t important. I just believe that if you don’t have that enthusiasm, you’re missing out. Maybe a better way of putting it is that enthusiasm should grease the wheels.

Told you it would be short.