This article was originally published in BPM Magazine. Read the full version of the magazine here.
Gerald Grech lives by these words; “Staying on track, no matter what.”
At the centre of Gerald Grech, his personal bests and unique races, we found a mindset that is worth sharing, a perspective that brings results, and motivation that is intrinsic and intentional. Gerald is someone who enjoys both the intellectual side of life, and the active and physical aspect of pushing yourself to your own limits.
This is shown through his current role as a marketing lecturer at Junior College as well as in his running career of over 30 years so far, which started at the age of 10. He takes up both road and track races, as well as more recently, mountain running competitions.
Running took a more serious slant when his uncle started to coach him. Later on, he moved on to a coach who devised his training according to his BPM via a heart rate monitor. At 17, Gerald was selected to go to the Youth Olympics in the Netherlands, which was the first important moment in his career.
He has been part of countless events and races spanning across many countries such as the Spanish Islands, Argentina, France, Italy, the Balearics, China, and Iceland. Along the way, Gerald impressively took moments of failure and turned them into lessons.
When running was taken away from him due to an injury, it became clear to him how important running is as it gives him a sense of freedom and makes him feel alive. While running, he is immersed in a runner’s high, where the amount of thoughts going through one’s mind is so grand that it generates a meditative effect.
Taking into consideration that Gerald Grech’s intense lifestyle can lead him to burnout, there are moments where Gerald forces himself to calm down. He sees value in approaching things with mental calmness. Sometimes it can be too much and even though he gets a fear of missing out, he has learned how to say no, presenting a way of how self-discipline enables freedom.
Running is not only a competitive sport to him, but also an investment in his quality of life, longevity, and overall health. Physical health issues can be rooted in negative thoughts which occupy our minds most of the time. He says that if you jot down your thoughts, most of them would turn out to be negative, which is definitely a call for action.
To anyone who wants to become a professional athlete, Gerald’s recipe is consistent training, patience, dealing with setbacks well, preparing yourself mentally, and having a coach guiding you individually. To him the solution to obstacles is not to dread or feel sorry for yourself, but to accept them and work around them.
‘Lethargy breeds lethargy.’ While Gerald Grech presents action as motivation, he presents fear as paralysing. The barrier to people reaching their dreams is fear – he says it is not about your circumstance but about reprogramming your mind, understanding fear, doing things despite of it, and being self-confident.
Gerald is a great depiction of how focus and discipline are crucial towards success, inspiring others to jump up, find their pace, and start their journey! ‘Those who reach their dreams focus on their dreams and they don’t even have doubts that they will reach them.’
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