Recognition & Motivation

I don’t tend to talk about work on the blog, but at the moment I’m taking a leadership course.  It is really exciting to discover and articulate things about myself and the kind of leader I want to be.  I also see a lot of parallels between my leadership style and team goals at work and my triathlon team – Team Tri Life.  What I love so much about TTL are some of the same sentiments I strive to incorporate in my team at work.  TTL is a group that people love to be a part of, and when a teammate succeeds, the whole team succeeds.  Of course a big part of this is our coach Angie.  Your successes are her successes and her enthusiasm is infectious.  I feel very lucky to be coached by her and to be on a team with such amazingly talented and supportive people.

One thing we talked about in our course today was regarding recognition and motivation.  We were asked to recall the most significant recognition we’ve ever received.  Mine came to mind instantly.

I don’t think I ever detailed this moment in my rather lengthy Ironman Canada race report, but this particular incident happened on the run.  Ironman Canada 2012 was a tough day for me thanks to tummy troubles on the bike and the non stop worry about whether I would be able to finish the race before midnight.  Those were pretty well the only things I thought about on the run course.  On my way out to Okanagan Falls I heard someone on their way back to Penticton call my name.  She shouted her name to me and told me that my journey to Ironman way back in 2010 had inspired her to be racing her first Ironman on this day.

I’m just a girl that loves to blog, take numerous self portraits and share my ups and downs of training.  When I started this blog (six years ago next week) I didn’t know if anyone would read it or find what I would have to say interesting, but that didn’t even matter to me.  Years later for someone to tell me that I had inspired them was absolutely amazing and left my heart feeling very full.  All I can say is thank you for reading and finding a spark of inspiration.  All of you are so inspiring to me.

What is the most significant and special recognition you’ve received?