Movement has been a part of my life since I was very young. I was running down the athletics track while still wearing nappies and my childhood memories are flooded with sporting moments and events – including my first soccer goal, which happened to be for the opposing team, but I don’t tend to talk about that!
Basically, I can’t remember a time as a child when I was NOT moving my body, and I’m incredibly grateful to my parents for that kind of upbringing. As an adult I believe movement is the magic our body needs to thrive.
The sport that I played as a kid is where I developed my principles of hard work and determination – words that are thrown around a lot but when actually put into play are so very powerful. I’m sure any successful person would support me in saying that hard work and determination are really important when you are trying to accomplish something meaningful for you.
My coaches would run training sessions before and after school for different sports or running events, but leading up to a competition I would always put in extra sessions on my own and I believe doing that had a huge impact on my success. I was also fortunate to be surrounded by great mentors who believed in me and supported me – most of all my parents.
What I’m saying is that moving brings so many benefits, and we can move in many different ways to get all these beautiful benefits. It started with sport for me, but being happy, healthy and strong involves so much more now that I am the adult in charge of my destiny.
These days, I look at my daughter, Violet, and think about the important lessons I learnt as a child that I’d like to pass on to her. My list would look something like this, and I believe these principles apply for all of us, no matter what we are hoping to achieve . . .
1. Be a team player – being able to work efficiently and co-operatively with others is always part of being a success.
2. Have an action plan – my touch-footy coach, Caroline Fuller, tirelessly drilled attacking moves into our heads during training, making me realise the importance of planning and preparation.
3. If you don’t win, come back fighting twice as hard – I remember using a loss in a race or a match as my number-one motivation for the next round. I also remember these ‘comeback’ rounds were often my favourites.
4. Focus – on your form, the game, the opposition and the final outcome.
5. Work hard and be determined – in the lead up to any race you run or match you play, hard work and determination are what count the most.
6. Eat well – good nutrition is key, no matter what you’re aiming to compete in or win, and I was very lucky to have good-quality home-cooked meals to power my efforts.
7. Celebrate success – when we played as a team, we sang, we danced, we cheered, and became closer through our celebrations. If it was an individual event, I’d celebrate with my family, friends and support team. Whatever the situation, the victory is more sweet with a celebration.
So with those principles in mind, let’s get moving, beautiful girl.