The 90s was the time endurance sports were at their peak in Australia. Every weekend throughout summer we had our Triathlon and Surf heroes live on our TV competing in fast and furious grand prix and Ironman races. A race at Glenelg would have attracted 30,000 people cramming Jetty Road to watch the action. This is when I was first growing into the sport, and I was still at the stage where I had sporting heroes. In the triathlon world Brad Bevan was the king while in the Surf it was Trevor Hendy. No one was bigger than Trev. He was the man. Regardless of the conditions or the obstacles he kept finding a way to win.
In fact he was so big he was the face of Vitabrits and plastered next to his face was the motto he lived by – “Dream, Believe, Create, Succeed.” This is one motto I have adopted and now apply in any number of environments.
At a junior level it is easy to see this model in action.
First, we have the younger kids who have stars in their eyes. We get them to meet their heroes and they start the process of dreaming that anything is possible. Then we need to grow their belief. Building confidence in their ability, creating some ego and the tools needed to deal with challenges they will face moving forward. Get it right and it will grow their hunger to do whatever it takes. At this point we can then start to really invest in everything required to create success. The final chapter comes on race day when you apply everything you know, learnt and gained to strive for success.
Our junior academy is all about nurturing kids through this model. Hopefully by the time they get to around 16 years of age we can really invest into the “create” phase.
For adults while we can have some heroes we look up to, the dream typically comes from other areas- the thrill of competition, the chase of a time, the desire to be more than we currently are a battle to beat someone! This dream is all about finding your why? Why do you want to get up at the crack of dawn, ride in the cold or push yourself to your limits? This dream has to be big enough to overcome the lure of normal life- eating, drinking, relaxing, watching Netflix…
Growing belief is just as tough as it is with kids. Often, we have been smashed by a lifetime of people telling us we can’t, or we have been damaged by any number of failed attempts. So, we need to find ways to grow a belief that this time will be different, that it is possible to achieve our dreams. Belief comes from action and achievement, but often we need some mental tools to navigate our way through the negatives. Here most people will need some support. Someone to share experiences with, draw knowledge from and just to provide a little nudge if required. This is also the time where you map out what is required to achieve your dream. There are many parts to triathlon (so many things you need to learn and skills to develop), so it is important to outline the areas you want to work on.
Creation is possible when we get over the hump. Where we are clear on our why and believe that it is possible. We are also clear on the strategies for moving forward and we can start the process of chasing hard. Goals, planning, and evaluation are vital here to make sure we stay on track and make it happen, but mostly creation is about hard work.
Finally, success happens when we get to race day. This is the chance to test if what we have been working on is on the money. Again, this will need to look at the sport from a Tactical, Technical, Physical and Psychological perspective.
The other beauty of the sport is that the opportunities for success and, what defines it in most cases, continually changes. As our knowledge and experience grows, we can often find our dreams get bigger and we need to start the process once again. Whether you are Junior, an aspiring age grouper or Matt Hauser, I think Trev’s model is a perfect way to plan your assault on becoming more and achieving more than you ever dreamt possible.