10 Habits of Successful Athletes

The other day before teaching my usual TBC (total body conditioning) class, I had a discussion with a student about workout motivation.  It was actually a more general conversation about how she has good intentions to go to the same swim class I attend on Wednesday nights, both of us as students, but how hard it has been for her to actually get there when it starts at 8:30 pm.  I empathetically agreed, as some weeks I too find I have to drag myself off the sofa and push myself to go, being comfortably settled in after dinner and a long day at work.

Anyway, interestingly the next day, I came across an article titled "10 Habits of Successful Athletes", which kind of fit into that discussion of personal motivation and fitness. 

While the article itself was a little boring, I did like the bullet points, as I found they actually apply to people trying to lose weight or keep general fitness as well:

1.  They set short and long term goals.
2.  They picture success.
3.  They make the most of mistakes.
4.  They place importance on nutrition.
5.  They value rest.
6.  They follow a structured training program.
7.  They always train hard.
8.  They keep records.
9.  They seek out those that are better, stronger and smarter.
10.  They continuously prove themselves.

After reading the above, I was surprised how I pretty much hit all of these on a regular basis.  But, I did have to admit ... I'm failing a little bit right now on 6 (as I'm not running as much as I should to prepare for the TC 10 mile), and I could do much better on 4 (since I'm still not 100% eating like I should ... hello summer and ice cream).

But, my personal failures aside, I think I'm going to use this as a barometer of sorts moving forward to ensure I'm keeping on track with my overall health and fitness. 

That being said, I'm curious to know: how do you stack up to this list?