The Two Basic Types of Behaviors Athletes Must Manage for Success
There are two basic types of behaviors all athletes must manage for success.
- Push behaviors are the behaviors athletes must force themselves to do because their mind puts resistance in front of them.
- Pull behaviors are the behaviors athletes innately want to do with no resistance.
Common push behaviors include activities like pre-dawn workouts, eating a strict diet, and conditioning. Common pull behaviors include snacking, having fun with friends, and using electronic devices for entertainment.
As shown above, it’s natural for push behaviors to be better and pull behaviors to feel better. Therefore the best way to manage this contradiction is to combine push and pull behaviors with each other.
For example, I do a long run of at least 6 miles twice a week. This is a push behavior for me. I also really enjoy listening to Audible books, which is one of my favorite pass times and a pull behavior for me. Consequently, in order to motivate myself to do my long run I only allow myself to listen to audio books while on these runs. By combining these two push and pull behaviors, I now look forward to my long runs since I get the audio book as a treat with it.
This example is the takeaway. If you need the push behaviors for success, and you dread doing them, success will be exponentially harder. As a result, the best thing you can do is to find a method to use what pulls you to push you.