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You won’t know until you try

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Robyn Peel swimming

Swim training

At the moment I am training for a 10km open water swim. The swimming equivalent of running a marathon (or so I’m told). It means that I need to be swimming at least three times a week and although I love swimming I so rarely feel like getting out of bed early to hit the pool. Yet I know that unless I get in that pool or lake or river then I’m not actually going to be any closer to achieving this goal.

To get to my 10km goal I need to take action. Regular, consistent action. No matter how much I think about swimming it won’t actually help me. I need to get in that pool and do the lengths and do the time.

I have been noticing lately that a lot of people seem to be focused on intellectualising their way to their goals. Sure their goals aren’t perhaps a physical goal like mine, but no matter how much they THINK about their goal they aren’t actually any closer to achieving it. Visualising and mulling it over, intellectualising the outcome and thinking about all the potential problems and successes doesn’t actually get you closer to achieving the goal.

You won’t know what it looks or feels like until you actually go out and give it a go.

Sometimes we need to get out of our head, stop thinking and actually just take action.

Using the swimming analogy, we spend so much time imagining what the swimming pool will feel like – the temperature, the taste and how tired our body will feel after a training session.

But until we actually get in the pool we don’t know what it will ACTUALLY be like.

It seems that people want to be “totally prepared” before they even dip their toe in the pool. We think we are preparing by trying on our swimsuit. By making sure we have the right set of goggles. By doing stretches at home. We want to make sure our bodies and equipment are perfect before we get into that pool.

Yet until we get in the bloody pool it is all just thought.

We need to take action.

We have to get in the pool and start swimming. We have to jump in and adjust to it as we go. There will be great days in the pool and crap days. We will feel like a million dollars one day and like death warmed up on others. But our bodies will adjust and get used to it by doing it regularly. We will start learning by being in the pool and responding to the pool.

So, what is the pool in your life?

The next step or idea you have been playing around in your mind for months or perhaps even years? When are you going to take the plunge and just get into the pool?

You won’t know until you try.

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