On my wall I have a fading newspaper picture of my inspiration, every time I get out of bed I see it and it reminds me what I need to do today to get stronger and fitter and become more like my hero.
That faded picture is of Zoe Smith, British Olympic Weightlifter; who at 19 years of age has won bronze at 2010 Commonwealth games and competed at London 2012 Olympics placing 12th in her weight class taking the British Women’s clean + Jerk Record of 121 kg pretty impressive I think!
She was my inspiration prior to the games due to her dedication, modesty, and strength, every fitness and nutrition branch I have swung on since then has been to improve my overall knowledge and experience of strength and conditioning training from the big lifts to crazy complex cardio; but first and foremost I have developed a huge passion for Olympic weightlifting.
As a result of reading that newspaper on the Tube I have transitioned from my grim day job in an office to being a qualified personal trainer and level 1 British Weightlifting Coach, but on a personal note doubled my own personal best scores for the big lifts, and am the fittest I have ever been.
This has not been easy but helped along by the Hero on my wall, pure gritty, hard work, determination and the great coaching I have received along the way I am getting to my goals.
‘So what’… you say, well it is well-known that having goals are vital if you wish to succeed at something, but I do not mean vague goals of wanting to just get fit or healthy, how about learning to lift a weight and progress from learning a new skill to achieving specific measurable goal like lifting your own body weight off the floor with a bar; or how to swim so you can complete your first mile or enter a triathlon. This goal development enables you to turn knowledge to your advantage, lose weight, get lean and ripped, and become more confident.
Without a specific goal how would you know when you have achieved your desired result.
Right so you may have now thought of a specific goal but how do you remind yourself of it everyday?
I chose that tatty old newspaper, but you could have a
picture,
letter,
poem,
statement,
wristband,
garment,
tattoo………
The most important thing is you know what it represents and you have it somewhere you will see it every day…..
on the wall or fridge,
on your phone or computer,
round your wrist or neck,
MAKE IT MEMORABLE AND INSPIRING GO MAKE YOUR LIFE A STORY WORTH TELLING!
To top it all off, I got to meet my hero, not something I imagined would ever happen but it was a great experience.
I felt unnaturally nervous about it perhaps because of the implication in my mind that she would have to meet up to the hero status I had given her; I should not have worried because Zoe was modest, warm and happy to answer my questions.
Zoe was drafted to co-present an educational seminar on olympic lifting to teach and inspire people working in the fitness sector whilst visiting the annual Leisure Industry Week Conference.
At the end of the demo I sidled in to have a chat, grab some tips for my Clean & Jerk and get a quick photo and autograph to replace that tatty old newspaper for the rest of my journey to my goals.
Hope you can get to yours and find your inspiration and perhaps even meet your hero too……..Good luck
For more Information on lifting for fitness or Olympic Lifting in please contact me for further information. Call 07891646667 or use the contact page.