Make Deposits in Your Confidence Bank That You Can Cash in on Race Day
Some of the top athletes in the world use journaling to track progress, set goals, process emotions, and develop mental strength. This is a technique everyday athletes can borrow to maximize our own performance.
I know what you’re thinking.
“I’m busy with training, work, and family life. Now, you expect me to write in a journal too?”
Or perhaps you’re thinking…
“I’ll focus on swim, bike, and run. Writing about feelings isn’t my style.”
I understand this reaction, but I would challenge you to think about journaling in a different way.
Journaling is how you make deposits in your Confidence Bank.
Your Confidence Bank is a place where you record small wins in training and breakthroughs you experience on race day. You can reflect on the times when you pushed through, even though you wanted to quit, or when you surprised yourself and exceeded your own expectations.
Every training session you complete, every workout where you showed up (even when you didn’t want to), and every time you didn’t think you could, but you did- all add up over time. But unless you record these small victories, they get lost in the day-to-day shuffle.
The closer you get to race day, the faster doubts start to creep in… It happens to everyone, even professional athletes. When that happens, what do you have to rely on to give yourself confidence in the face of uncertainty?
Journaling is evidence. It’s a record of your consistency, resilience, and progress. That’s why you need a Confidence Bank.
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“Journaling can act as a mirror, reflecting an athlete’s inner world of thoughts, emotions, and motivations. By regularly documenting experiences, athletes can discover patterns in their reactions to different situations, be it the anxiety triggered by high-pressure competitions or the exhilaration of a well-earned victory. This heightened self-awareness enables athletes to tailor their mentality to their personal psychology, maximizing their performance.”
- The Game-Changing Power of Journaling in Sports Psychology
Journaling as a way to develop confidence
There are countless examples of elite athletes who use journaling as a tool.
Simone Biles uses journaling to track improvements and set daily intentions for training. “I feel like that was a stress reliever for me to journal, to put my feelings down on paper or whatever confidence I was feeling, and I actually liked reading back into my journals and seeing how much I improved in the skills that I wrote and that I wanted to learn,” (Masterclass).
Michael Phelps uses journaling as a way to process his emotions and improve his mental health.
Katie Ledecky started journaling when she was 14 years old as a way to document her training in the lead-up to the 2012 London Olympics.
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy uses the Notes app on his phone as a digital journal. It dates back to 2015 and includes observations, wisdom, and even jokes.
Detroit Lions defensive lineman John Cominsky writes inspirational messages from his coach and teammates in a physical journal.
Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin writes positive affirmations in his journal, like:
“What happened in the past does not indicate what’s going to happen in the future.”
“I will make mistakes. But there’s always an opportunity to bounce back.”
“It’s okay to have grace for myself.”
(Source, The Washington Post)
There are many reasons why elite athletes use journaling as part of their training and daily life. Some use it to reflect on emotions and track progress toward goals. Others use it to record positive affirmations or tidbits of wisdom that provide direction or purpose.
But no matter the reason, the overarching theme has to do with developing confidence. And you don’t have to be an athlete to use this technique.
Back when I was the editor of an equine magazine, I received a lot of emails from readers. Mostly good, some bad… But even though I’d get 19/20 great emails, and 1/20 bad ones, I’d only focus on the negative.
I decided I needed a way to remind myself of the times when people said nice things. So I created a folder in my email where I put all the kind comments and words of affirmation. Whenever I was frustrated or having a bad day, I looked in that folder and was reminded that I was doing a great job and people appreciated my work.
That’s what a Confidence Bank is for.
How to make a deposit in your confidence bank
Journaling isn’t hard, and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. You don’t need to have structure either. You can just open up a blank page and start writing.
But many people like a framework to help them get started, especially if you’re journaling as a way to develop confidence for athletic performance.
Here’s how to do it in just 5 minutes a day. After a workout, open up a clean sheet of paper and answer the following questions:
📌 Log the basics
Write down what you did: distance, time, effort level, ect. This is the objective part.
📌 Highlight what went well
Be specific. “Effort level felt stable through the entire run” or "Went to the pool even when I didn’t want to.”
📌Note how you felt
Not every session is going to feel great and that’s ok! Describe your physical and mental state. Maybe you started even though you had low motivation. Maybe your form held up under fatigue. This is important because the Confidence Bank isn’t just a training log. It’s a record that reminds you of both your physical, and mental, strength.
📌 Reflect on what you learned
Every training session teaches you something—about pacing, nutrition, gear, or your mental game. Maybe you figured out a fueling issue or discovered you’re stronger than you thought.
*You can do this in a Notes app on your phone, but don’t underestimate the power of the written word. I’d recommend using a physical journal or notebook. My friend, Max Auer, wrote about how he records affirmations and observations in his confidence journal.
The Payoff: Confidence You Can Cash in on Race Day
Once you record in your journal for a few weeks, you should have pages full of helpful anecdotes that you can go back to and read before race day.
Here are a few examples from my own Confidence Bank.
4 miles of running in a hard bike/run/bike session- “Don’t know how fast I was running. Just tried to feel it. Historically, I haven’t been great with run/bike/run, but my legs held up surprisingly well even on the third lap.”
9.73-mile run with race efforts- “I think I executed pretty well, especially on tired legs! They didn’t feel too bad actually. Started running out a bit by the last interval.”
8.4-mile run with tempo efforts- “I did well! Very easy warmup. I may have done the efforts a bit too hard. More like 90%. Still need practice with the faster pacing, but I’m trying to get better at not being afraid of intensity, so I guess it’s a balance. Cool down was good, didn’t feel completely shattered.”
As you can see, it’s a mixture of facts about what I did, observations about how I felt, and what I learned.
I also have anther section where I write helpful things I want to remember.
So when race day comes and your brain starts asking the question- Am I ready? You will have the answer in the pages of proof in your Confidence Bank.
Exciting news! The Tri Smarter, Not Harder: 50 Essential Tips For Every Triathlete eBook is in production. Right now, it’s going through final editing and will be ready to release very soon. It’s a compilation of the best swim, bike, run, transition, and nutrition advice on the blog in an easy-to-reference format.
Here’s a sneak peek of the cover. :)
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