Discussion: Favourite Motivational Phrases

Hey all!

I'm writing a training plan for a friend for Christmas and want a motivational phrase for each week - what's your favourite?! Hit me with everything from the inspiring to the downright awful!

Hmmm. Great idea. But most of my favorite "motivational" phrases come from despair.com, so they might not be helpful. For example:

Consistency: It's only a virtue if you're not a screw-up.

Inspiration: Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, which is why engineers sometimes smell really bad.

Motivation: If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon.

Downright awful, but hilarious.

I have "No excuses" on my RoadID. It's nice to see every once in a while to remind you to suck it up.

Brilliant!!

Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

Although Star Wars is a font of motivational wisdom, I think the above can only be true if one isn't pushing hard enough (or if one is deluded).

For me, something has to be true (factually in the case of falsifiable statements or emotionally in the case of normative ones) to be motivational. I should qualify that by saying that this applies off the race course, for example during training or pre-race. Enthusiastic cheering is always good during a race, it's voracity notwithstanding.

Hmm... I was wondering if that was a typo (voracity rather than veracity.) Either way, it works, but I'm not sure which one makes most sense.

In the vein of enthusiastic cheering, one of my absolute favorite cheers (by Ross Smith at the 2008 Relay Champs) was (approximately) "(Person): You better finish in less than (time) or I'll never respect you again!"

Who dares wins - SAS
The winner takes it all - ABBA
All for one and im the one - Evil Bishop in Robin Hood
Second is the first loser
i think i can, i think i can - The little engine that could

Isn't it clearly HTFU?

I was wondering if that was a typo (voracity rather than veracity.)

Whoops! Yes, I meant "veracity."

"Pain is the sensation of weakness leaving the body."

I remind myself of that when I'm in extreme (or even mild) discomfort.

ebone - I believe the quote is more directed at the result is what matters or the buddhist - "Be present". Not that there is "no try". You run. You don't try to run.

I'm all for HTFU
A favourite Australian admonition.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=unkIVvjZc9Y

The actor in the clip is mimicking Chopper read, a retired standover exponent. Specialised in ripping off other weaker criminals. Now a well known author and motivational speaker. I

OK, all from the 2002 Shaklee calender. (have pictures too)
"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination"--Tommy Lasorda
"Either find a way, or make one"---Hannibal
"This one step, choosing a goal and sticking to it, changes everything"--Scott Reed
"It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win, that makes the difference"--Bear Bryant

One of my favourite phrases of all time:

"A month of hard work can often save you an hour of thinking"

An orienteering relevant one might be:

"15 minutes of hard running can often save you 30 seconds of decent navigation"

"Think without limits"

one of my favorites:

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. Nobody is going to win a 5,000 meter race after running an easy 2 miles. Not with me. If I lose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself."


Steve Prefontaine

and since I have never been the fastest, I have always loved this quote....

" Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it."

Steve Prefontaine

"If it ain't broke, you're not trying!" -Red Green

"Nothing lasts forever- not even pain."
"If its a suffer-fest, I'm going to win."
"Not guts, no glory."

The one i use the most when racing:

"Pain is temporary, pride is forever."

ebone--your post reminds me of the well-intentioned volunteer or spectator who yells "It's all downhill from here." It's almost never true.

At the start of the Pikes Peak ascent race, I've heard spectators shout "There's only one more hill" - which is almost true (there's a few short downhills) - the only problem is the "only one more hill" is 7800 vertical feet.

"If the O' is too easy, you're not running fast enough."

--attributed to swampfox in an AP discussion.

"The mountains are calling, and I must go." - John Muir
(not directly related perhaps, but a helluva nice quote.)

"That which does not kill me, makes me stronger."

Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, 1888

@ cnoc - I prefer "Pain is temporary, honour is forever."

My first years in the SA team brought along the following 2 sayings which I often mumble to myself:
1) "Take no prisoners", or just "No prisoners"
2) "Run with no women" (which has a long story attached to it) :) and thus only motivational to me.....

"I am a strong believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work the more of it I have."-Ben Franklin

"Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder."
- William Sigei

On a faded sign in the corner of a most hated gym: "The truth is, you can always push harder...and the truth hurts."

my dad always told me how to run a 200m race.
"sprint as hard as you can for the first 100m then accelerate for the last 100m"

"If your shadow is still by your side your not running hard enough"

From the Incline Club (Manitou Springs, CO, which trains on the Pike's Peak trail system):

"Go out hard; when it hurts, speed up."

My personal fav. Is "no failure" another good one is "its not braging if you can back it up" ps I love the hannibal quote hope you use it
Fear the pink

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.. dunno who

If you want to stand out, don't be different: be outstanding... dunno who again

The best way to predict the future is to invent it... 3 strikes I'm out ;-)

I never have trouble being motivated during a race, so I'm partial to quotes that motivate training. Here are two of my favorites (I've seen them attributed to so many different people, I'd call them public domain):

Luck is the intersection of opportunity and preparation.

The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare.

When the going gets tough the tough get going

"The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare."

Slightly off topic, but I just finished grading algebra and calculus Final Exams - so appropriate!

Just wondering if the successful elite athlete actually takes stock of all these phrases as I'm assuming (maybe entirely wrongly) that they inherantly have an internal motivation that drives them to suceed regardless.

To mix threads a little... A few changes to this demotivator classic might sell better t-shirts.

Because nothing says "you're a loser" more than owning a motivational t-shirt about being a winner.

I can see it selling in Australia. I'd buy one! Perhaps copyright might be a problem though. Pity.

Well, Emil Zatopek certainly qualifies as "elite". Here's another training quote from him:

"There is a great advantage in training under unfavorable conditions. It is better to train under bad conditions, for the difference is then a tremendous relief in a race."

And one that I'm sure he took stock in (given his disdain for stretching) was:

"Why should I have to touch my toes? I never do that during a race."

Eric,

In regard to Emil Zatopek' example above that's probably not a motivational motto as much as it's just advice. It's not the same as say "Just do it" which is purely a motivational phrase.

BTW I agree with him about the toes especially since I'm so inflexible that I couldn't touch them if I tried.

Success has a lot to do with staying on your feet.

Steve Bradbury.

"cometh the hour cometh the man"

unless the person is a girl

I've heard of plenty of elite runners using a mantra to keep them going. I think everyone needs *something* to get them out the door everyday and to push to their limit.

Shut up man/woman, it's supposed to hurt!

(Disclaimer: Solely for training and racing purposes.)

"Train hard, win easy" /Martin Johansson...and of course more before him

"Wining has a lot to do with staying on your feet"

Thanks Clara. Great suggestion. Our US brethren may not understand the value of Steve Bradbury's comment because his Winter Olympics gold medal 'performance' probably wouldn't have appeared on US TV.
Far from favourite for the 1000m short course speed skating event (2002 winter olympics), he qualified for the semi-final and was expected to be eliminated. He got through because most of the field fell over. Perhaps it was all the rest of the field. In the gold race he was left for last by a clearly more skilled field. He had given up the race and was skating behind the pack in a relaxed gait, almost standing upright. The other four took themselves out on the final bend and Steve glided past with a fully bemused expression on his face, for gold. In doing so he became an immortal Australian sporting hero. His name entered the local language.. doing a Bradbury is to win because everyone else fouled-up.

This event is the best motivation for back of the pack orienteers such as myself. Orienteering has similar opportunities for snatching defeat from victory and vice versa.... Keep navigating, because one day all the others may dnf.

Just put a picture of Steve on one of the calendar pages and a URL
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=KW1HEZhdIPA&feature=...

The video also proved that you can get a silver or bronze medal bum-surfing!

"Just me, just here, just now" (helps me focus)

"A little further" (when I'm absolutely tanked, said over and over till I'm done)

That reminds me of "Right here, right now... there is no other place I want to be."

Or the famous Reagan Administration admonition to each other at the beginning of their 8 years:

If not us...who? If not now....when?

Not especially motivational, but my Zatopek favorite is...

?Why would I want to train slowly? I already know how to run slowly. I want to run fast! So I must train fast!?