Have you been inspired watching the Olympics? I’ve loved seeing the incredible diversity of sports and the amazing things humans are capable of over the last three weeks.
One thing that’s really struck me is the power of the crowd. Many athletes have mentioned how different it feels to have the crowds back this year, compared to the empty stadiums during the Covid Olympics in Tokyo.
We all know from our own experience the encouragement a crowd cheering us on can give us. If you’ve ever run a marathon, you know how tough those lonely stretches without support can feel. And the boost you get when you hit the busier sections.
Just last week at parkrun, a marshal shouted out, “Great running!” just as I was about to give up on a time trial attempt - it was just what I needed to keep going.
How to create your own cheering crowd
What if you became your own crowd, cheering yourself on with, “I believe in you, you can do this” whenever you needed it?
You might be thinking that sounds stupid or “I’d just be saying it for the sake of it; I don’t really know if I can do it,” or “Why get my hopes up if I can’t succeed?”
But think about it - did the marathon spectator really know you could do it? Was the parkrun marshal qualified to say whether I was really running well? And did it matter that they had shouted the same thing to everyone else as they passed by? Does the home crowd at the Olympics actually know their team will win?
The point is, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the boost you get and how that makes it feel easier.
And as for not getting your hopes up, want to know the best way to make sure you can’t do it? Give up before you even start.
So, next time you face a challenge, try being your own home crowd. Change the soundtrack in your mind from, “This will be too hard, I don’t know if I can do this,” to, “I can do this,” “This will be challenging, but I’ll get stronger from it,” or even, “I might not hit my goal, but I definitely won’t if I don’t try. At least I’ll learn something.”
See what comes up for you when you try this shift.
It might feel false or unnatural at first, but is it any more unnatural than immediately saying, “I can’t do this” before you’ve even tried?
3 tips to make it easier to build the power of the crowd:
Take Small Steps: You don’t have to leap from “This is too hard” to “This is easy.” Imagine your thoughts like a ladder. If the top is “This is easy” and you’re currently near the bottom, what’s one step up? Maybe, “This is hard, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
Talk to Yourself Like a Friend: If you were encouraging a friend or a child, you wouldn’t tell them they couldn’t do it, right? So try saying what you’d say to them to yourself.
Keep Practicing: Just like anything else, if you’re not used to doing it, it might feel hard and unnatural. But the more you do it, the easier and more natural it becomes.
Want some help changing your mindset?
If you can see the power of working on your mindset but find you keep getting stuck, why not give me a shout? I am a Life Coach and Mental Health and Exercise coach (as well as a triathlon coach!).
I help my clients change their mindset to one that serves them better and helps them achieve their goals, whether that's a parkrun PB, changing jobs or building happier relationships.
Even if you're not quite sure what you want, but you just now you want something to change, book in a free call here and let's chat! >> Book a call now
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