You're not broken, it's your patterns
How Triathlon Changed My Life: 2014-2015
You’re not broken – It’s your patterns- T. Robbins
One year ago after reaching a saturation point of feeling frustrated I decided to embark on a focused journey to change my patterns. For years I had many successes in the areas I focused on but these successes always came with negative consequences in other life areas. I was not diligent about creating the space I needed to pursue my priorities, I struggled to find win-win results and unintentionally adopted a fragmented living system that included success in some areas of life and dissatisfaction in other areas.
The beginning: September 2014
Where FOCUS goes, ENERGY goes- T. Robbins
After feeling physically unhappy and overwhelmed, enough was enough! Forty Three pounds heavier than my current weight of 160 lbs I needed a challenge to snap me out of my funk. I decided to sign up for the Boise 70.3 Ironman in June. I needed a new physical challenge. This gave me nine months to train and running the occasional marathon and ½ marathon was not cutting it for me anymore.
After looking at the Iron man website and watching YouTube Ironman videos there was no doubt in my mind that this was the challenge I needed to motivate me into action. I had never swum with an organized group, I didn’t own a racing road bike, and I did not have the proper swim or biking equipment. I didn’t care about those details. I simply focused on the process of training and the result I wanted!
I helped myself early in this process by searching for and hiring a local triathlon coach and Co-Owner of TriTown in Boise, Idaho (www.tritownboise.com), Antonio Gonzalez. The positive consequences of that decision transformed my physical and mental toughness results far beyond my initial expectations. As a result of this intentional focus and with the support of both my wife and my coach I finished the Boise 70.3 Ironman. I also competed in the 70.3 World Championships in Zell am See, Austria and 70.3 Lake Tahoe with a 6th place Age Group Finish that year. I also competed in two sprint triathlons (one age group podium finish), and two Olympic distance races that season (one age group podium finish).
You get what you tolerate
After eight months of triathlon training for the Boise 70.3 Ironman and racing two sprint triathlons, it was clear that I had developed passionate, laser focused, and productive training patterns in this area of my life. Once again, the athlete inside of me had been rekindled. However, in my career, I was merely getting the results I tolerated. I knew something had to change with my work. Similar to my decision to sign up for the Boise 70.3, I immediately took considerable action to change this area of my life, after a long and hard battle.
The tipping point came on my drive to work after a hard and rewarding swim session in early May. I was physically exhausted from the workout but had great focus and clarity. For months I had been working through an internal win-loss mindset in the workplace. I was frozen in my own fear and unable to articulate how to get un-stuck from this area of my life to others. I was unhappy with this area of life, so much in fact that the voice inside me was often self-limiting. Thoughts like “if you make a change it will derail your opportunities”, “if you leave you are a quitter and that isn’t who you are“, “it will get better in time“, etc.
And then it clicked. It was simple. I was getting what I tolerated. I needed to stop looking at work with a scarcity mindset. I needed to fight against the law of familiarity. I needed to raise my standards of what I wanted in life. The following morning I announced I was resigning at the end of May. It was exactly what I needed to do.
CHANGE YOUR FOCUS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE - RAISE YOUR STANDARDS - PLAY FULL OUT
So how did triathlon change my life this past year? It changed my life completely! I wasn’t broken, it was my patterns. I changed my focus, which changed my life. I raised my standards and now I am playing FULL OUT!
With gratitude,
Sam Kristensen
