Pre-season preparation

As the F1 season approaches we addicts can appease our cravings slightly with news from the pre-season tests.  With just one remaining period of testing and the season itself kicking off in a couple of weeks time all the regular excitement and intrigue is starting to build.

During the off season period what has been happening?  Well in my world I’ve realised that there are a lot of useful lessons to be learnt from the fast paced, high octane world I love.  Tonight’s reflection though has made me realise that in life we rarely get an off season period.

However, if human life mirrored nature more closely, as it used to, and our main period of activity was from the beginning of Spring to the end of Autumn then what? (Oh look, how spooky is that, just like the F1 season!)  So if we had a period in which we stopped to develop and test then what?

Hhhmmmm….well first surely we’d need to know what category we were competing in.   After all it would be embarrassing to turn up at Albert Park with a British Touring car!  We’d need to know the rules as they are very different in each series and you’d need to know how you were going to be measured.

Here’s an interesting thing…in F1 all drivers want to win, all want to be the Champion just as all teams want to win the Constructor’s title.  That is their ultimate goal.  Yet at pre-season testing and throughout the year we hear them talking about their goals for testing, for each individual race and the season as a whole based on what they think is a fair and reasonable expectation.

Does that mean that they are settling for second best?  That they aren’t really trying?  That they accept their position at the back of the grid?  Of course not!  It shows that they know they have to mark out the steps from their existing position, to be realistic and clear in their expectations and to take it one step at a time.  Always striving to be the best that they can be at any point in time and always having their own markers for success.

Nowhere is that clearer than when you listen to the interview with Lewis Hamilton this year.  He has always been completely honest about the fact that he is a racing driver because he wants to win.  This year though he speaks of not being in the position to challenge for race wins.  He’s still working hard with the team to improve the car, to ensure his physical and mental fitness and we can be sure that he’ll be ready to take any opportunities that come his way.  Will you?

Well the first step is to decide what success will mean for you in your 2013 season.  Where do you want to be by October and is that a realistic and yet stretching target based on where you are right now?

That may not be answerable now – it depends on the clarity of your vision for the future and your objectivity around your current situation.  It could be that you need some help with this and if you do….just book yourself in for an Introduction Session.  It’s a gift from me to start your season well.