Nurture The Little Things To Grow The Bigger Picture

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How much time do you spend focusing on the ultimate goal? Have you ever stopped to consider how paying closer attention to the little habits, details and successes will lead to greater success in the long term?

Today's blog post is just my observation as a coach, but let me know if it resonates with you.

Most of my clients, and the people I speak to in the triathlon and endurance sport community, already have the big pieces of the endurance lifestyle dialled in. You know, the obvious stuff: weekly swims, bikes and runs. Nutrition around training sessions, and the supplements they use during those sessions too. Almost everyone I speak to know the importance of sleep, recovery, massage and rest, and do their best in these areas.

That's all great. I'm not denying that training, nutrition, sleep and recovery aren't top of the list when it comes to making a success of being an endurance athlete.

But many athletes channel 100% of their time, energy and planning into getting those big details right. At the expense of smaller details which are just as significant in the overall picture.

Whether it's in sport, business or on a personal level, improving is not always just down to the big things. It's also an accumulation of all those little things, habits and details.

So what are the little details which I encourage my coaching clients to focus on, all year round?

They tend to be the rather mundane, boring, easy to overlook parts of daily life:

  • Getting to bed 15 minutes earlier
  • Charging up your Garmin
  • Not hitting snooze on the alarm clock
  • Drinking water first thing in the morning
  • Leaving the house 5 minutes earlier, to get to training on time
  • Planning meals for the week
  • Checking your bike for wear and tear
  • Preparing lunch for the following day
  • Getting regular sports massage
  • Foam rolling, stretching, or doing stability work in the evening
  • Spending 30 minutes planning your season and periodising your training
  • Booking a physio appointment rather than procrastinating 

I know, I know, none of these things are as exciting as training. They all lack the thrill of getting out on your bike, the exhilaration of a run, the euphoria of a swim session. But they are the crucial minutiae which act as a foundation for all those big pieces of the puzzle.

Think of these important little details the same way you think about brushing your teeth. It's not exciting, it's not sexy, but it's really important if you want to be healthy. And health is at the very core of being a strong, successful and happy endurance athlete.

Do you feel as if you've got the little details dialled in?