Robin Arzón is the Vice President of Fitness Programming at Peloton. The executive is also a journal writer. In a webinar with BetterUp (a corporate coaching business), Arzón talks about her family of origin. Her father is a law professor and her mother is a medical doctor; both moved from elsewhere to live in Philadelphia. She felt the need to become a lawyer without thinking through in detail about what she wanted.
After experiencing a traumatic event, Arzón began to question her goals in life. What did she want to do? She wanted to run. She began running marathons and ultramarathons, and made athleticism her career. The athlete now refers to herself as a recovering lawyer.
When asked how she switched careers and what motivates her, Arzón shared three questions that she regularly asks herself in a journal. She did not have time to go into detail, so I will give you the three questions with my commentary beside them.
- What is my “why?” — What is the reason for me to do the thing that I claim to want? Use your “NO” to protect your “YES.” You might have to refer to this in the middle of achieving the goal when reassessing whether the trouble is worth it.
- Why not me? – A rhetorical question that suggests that you should not doubt that you are worthy to achieve the goal.
- What decisions would I make if I were twice as strong, and twice as confident? — This is where the beginning of planning comes in. This is your “pie in the sky,” “if there were no obstacles” moment where you think of the life you would want if there was nothing in your way. Then take the essence of those dreams and pursue them step by step.
Arzón says that she imagines the future self that she writes about in her journal as a person who is cheering her on in her goals. She is forever working towards consciously becoming the future Robin; the journal helps to create the environment to know herself and achieve that future.
Peace,
Deborah