Mindset Secrets For Mere Mortals - From An Elite Athlete

Olivia Bartlett-Marques is a remarkable woman. She hasn't let any social norms affect a passionate vision of her life. She started in the fitness industry at seventeen, and became the Managing Director and partner in the burgeoning business, TEAM Fitness , at just 21. At 24 she took out the novice and general awards for the Natural Physique Championships.

This kind of sport takes enormous dedication and focus. With a rigorous training regime and extremely clean nutrition plan, it's enough send any other person for a good lie down and a nap just listening to it.

But it's more than discipline that gets you up at 4am and doing 18 training sessions per week. The conscious mind only runs 2-4% of our behaviours, so it's got to be something deeper in the subconscious that sustains an individual to such lengths for success.

Olivia says it comes down to a few key things:

1. Have a deeply personal reason for undertaking your goal. For her it was a deep-seated desire to let go of not feeling comfortable in her own body to wanting to feel proud and amazed by her physique. For Olivia, this desire went years deep and pulled her forward through many dark and dreary morning runs. Many did not understand why she was putting herself through such a vigorous regime; and that's just the point - success is not for anyone else but yourself, and you don't need to explain it to anyone. You've just got to feel it as a 'must' for yourself.

2. Be pulled upwards by others who have gone before you. Olivia had never competed before and had only seen one other figure championship. But she believed she could give it a red hot go. She read stories about other competitors and posted their pictures at her desk for inspiration. One of the women had been through open heart surgery and was told she could never exercise again! She proved them wrong and kept winning competition after competition. If this woman who had had a near death experience could do it, she could do it.

3. Enjoy the process. Olivia had no ambition to win - just to do her best. And week after week of long training sessions, monitoring body fat, careful nutrition planning - she needed to find succour in the process. And she did - each time she made the choice to go for a run, or to push harder, she was making a choice to be her best. Each day was a reinforcement of her vision, of her commitment, of her promise to herself to feel good and live into a new version of herself. She felt stronger each day. Winning was just icing on the celery stick.

Coach's Challenge:
Whether you'd choose figure championships or not as your personal goal, check to see if you have awakened the passion and inner fire for your goals...If not, then see if you might take a leaf out of Olivia's book.