Ultra. Success - From intention to turnover with motivation and discipline.

My name is Annabel Müller. I am a speaker, goal achievement coach, and ultratrail runner. My longest mountain race so far: 349 km and 30,879 meters of elevation gain - all in one go, on foot in 147 hours. My resolution for 2023: "I have decided to be happy - because it is beneficial for health." Admittedly, this resolution of mine is not my own creation, but a famous quote by Voltaire. With a good resolution for 2023, statistically speaking, I belong to the minority of Germans. This may be due to the resolutions offered in surveys, but more on that later. According to a Statista survey, only 34% of the German population have good resolutions for 2023. The number is almost identical at 33% among Austrians neighboring in the south. However, among us Germans, in addition to a clear "yes" or "no" to the resolution, there is also a significant 11% who answer "don't know." This could be because the survey for Austrians was conducted "Face to Face," and therefore, it extended over a longer period, leading to later responses. Perhaps Austrians were not given an option for indecision. Either way, for those who struggle with decisions more often, I recommend the Online Webinar TRAIL AND ERROR and my TEDX talk. Because no decision is also a decision - just an unconscious one. But how do you successfully implement your resolutions? What is the secret to my ultra perseverance in running and in life? Here are 10 tips: 1. It must be your goal. Not your partner's, mother's, or your "bro's" goal. At the end of 2016, my big sports goal was to be faster, while my partner already had an XXL ultratrail in sight. The daring thought of standing on the winner's podium at a well-known ultratrail race motivated me. Only after achieving this goal in 2017 did my inner drive push me to tackle the three-hundred-kilometer mark. 2. Call it a goal instead, because by definition, a resolution in the dictionary is "something someone has consciously and determinedly decided on." A goal, by definition, is "a point someone wants to reach." The focus of a goal is on achieving it. 3. Determine where you want to go, not what you want to get away from. "I don't want to be so slow anymore and constantly fear failing the time limit." At the legendary Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, a 100-mile race, I barely made the required intermediate time at km 94 after over 5,000 meters of elevation gain. After experiencing runners failing at the very last cut-off after 160 km, after 2 days and 2 nights, some without sleep, it was a very emotional and intense desire not to have to fear such things in the future. However, with the wrong focus. 4. Know your why! "How do you manage not to give up during these ultra-long distances?" is a question I am asked very often during presentations, training, and interviews. "When you think about giving up, think about why you started," goes a piece of wisdom. You want to move more, eat healthier, quit smoking, read more, lose weight, be more frugal: Why? What changes for you when your scale shows 8 kilos less? When someone tells me they want to lose weight, my first question is, "Cool, what is your MOTIVation?" If the answer starts with "Because it would be nice...," I see slim chances of overcoming a motivation low. However, if I hear about how beautiful a wedding dress is, how royal the mighty train feels, the scent of the matching bridal bouquet, and I can hardly contain the excitement of my counterpart at these thoughts, even 20 instead of 8 kilos to fit in can be meekly added afterwards; the chances of success are still better because there is a goal beyond the goal. 5. Be prepared to pay the price to achieve your goal. You want to be the most attractive employer in the industry? Apart from the question, "Why?" and what consequences this entails, are you willing to pay the price to get there? Since ultratrail running had to work alongside studying or training, permanent employment, and self-employment - sometimes all together - I always trained quite moderately - not more than an ambitious marathon runner, just differently. Still not a little for a "hobby." I am not a natural talent and only started running in 2009. To consistently compete at the top, I would have had to train much more and leave other goals aside. Every goal costs us energy, demands our attention, and exacts its toll. 6. Do not depend on the competition to achieve your goal. Standing on the winner's podium was my MOTIVation to get faster. The image helped me during training sessions that I didn't enjoy and, of course, during the race. However, my specific goal for the Hochkönigman Endurance 2017 was to run 4 hours faster than the previous year. At 85 kilometers, that was almost exactly one hour per half marathon. 7. Set achievable sub-goals. A six-month training plan - 96 weeks with unpopular units like tempo and interval training, as well as the often boring but effective supplementary exercises; long runs of 3 to 5 hours, regular stretching after each session, etc. - may seem like an insurmountable mountain of work. Dividing it into sub-goals, such as training cycles of 3 + 1 weeks, makes it more manageable. And what's wrong with planning from week to week or even just today's training? This way, you can give 100% today and tomorrow and the day after, etc. 8. Allow yourself breaks on the way to your goal and plan your recovery. At least not without the tank or battery soon running empty. Because, of course, we can't always be at full throttle. "3 + 1" means three weeks at high performance levels and one week at a lower level. Ideally, you replenish your energy stores before they run out. Pay attention to what is important for your recovery. What we engage in out of convenience and lack of ideas may not always be the best form of relaxation. For example, I don't recover well when I sit a lot and move little, even if it seems relaxing at first. And the smartphone is not good for recovery after a long day at the computer. 9. Train your discipline. Discipline is about as popular as Covid measures. Unjustly so, because discipline with a motivating goal behind it can be really fun. And it can be easily trained: you just have to always stick to your own guidelines. "How often do you go to bed in the evening and have only completed one or two thirds of what you set out to do for the day?" This usually happens not because we are lazy, but because we have set ourselves far too much to do. The problem with this: Every time we don't stick to our own guidelines, our subconscious learns undiscipline. To train discipline in everyday life, set yourself realistically achievable daily goals. And then stick to them, even when it's tough. 10. Good luck! By my definition, LUCK is an abbreviation. The G stands for luck, for believers also God; L like love or passion; Ü like practice; C like cleverness, and K for competence and contacts. Speakers Excellence is your contact for excellence in business, and if you are looking for a goal achievement expert, do not hesitate to schedule a video call with me.