10 things we learned from inspiring female Bahraini athletes

Staying motivated to finish up your work, or maintain your new-year’s resolution of hitting the gym, can be challenging – either something pops up, you get busy, your work life and social life takes over, or you just deliberately procrastinate until you decide to give up – flashbacks to that gym you went to once or twice anyone? But that’s okay, it happens to the best of us. 

As such, we decided to hit up some inspiring people in Bahrain to share their wisdom with us and let us know on their secrets of staying on track, and who better to ask for motivational and perseverance tips than Bahraini female athletes?

Here are 10 tips we learned from these Bahraini female athletes:

  1. Find your inner power. According to Dana Zubari, Co-owner of Bahrain’s leading sportswear company Tru Active, Co-Captain of Cycling Bees and Lettuce Run, the only person that stops you from accomplishing your goals is yourself and the obstacles you place for yourself. “What I’ve learned as a female athlete is that your body can achieve whatever you put your mind to,” she shares. 
  2. Be open to new experiences. Getting out of your comfort zone to try out new things may not be on your top priority list, but it should be. The triathlete Shaikha Al Shaiba, tells us that life is too short and we need to make the best out of it. She advises to build up that confidence and courage of yours and to take the first step and try things out, whether it’s horseback riding, doing a solo trip, baking or cooking, scuba diving, and the list goes on. Here’s an uncommon tip if you want to build up your confidence: Fake it until you make it!
  3. Be a source of inspiration to other people. While this does not directly motivate you, it does actually help you stay on track with your current and future goals. May Al-Haji, the Vice President of Bahrain Triathlon Association, a triathlete, and Marketing Specialist at Zain Bahrain, shares with us a sentimental thought when we asked her what keeps her motivated. “My children.” she begins, “Every training session becomes a storytelling session and by that, I hope to inspire them to grow active and healthy.”
    Shaikha Alshaiba also shares that she’s been able to motivate other people to gain confidence and make them want to challenge themselves and their abilities to try out any kind of sport.
  4. It takes courage to start a movement. We asked Sarah Alsammak, the founder of Cycling Bees what’s it like being a female cyclist in Bahrain to which she replied: “If you asked me this 12 years ago when I just picked up cycling in Bahrain I would say it was difficult to do it outdoors for sure! For a covered girl, it was just unacceptable to be on a bike and ride it in public.”
    However, 2 years ago when Sarah launched the Cycling Bees, a cycling group dedicated only for women, more covered girls started to join and cycle. “It takes courage to start a movement,” Sarah shares. She also adds that you need to believe in your passion to continue doing it.
  5. Always compete with yourself. With time, you will figure out that the only person you should be competing with, is yourself, and not other people. When it comes to sports, Dana Zubari shares that you need to set your goals and work towards achieving them. “Always compete with yourself,” she shares, “if you didn’t have a good race, don’t beat yourself up! You as a person have accomplished a lot more than an average person and you should always be proud of yourself and your accomplishments no matter how small they are.” 

    According to Dana, we all started somewhere small and ended up achieving much more with time, training, and practice. And that’s also applicable in everything we do in our daily life including work, social gatherings, education, and more.
  6. Be kind to your bodies. This is for all the new mommies out there, Dana says: “My advice for moms who are getting back into training is to be kind to your bodies. Your body carried a baby for nine months don’t beat yourself up if you can’t achieve what you were able to achieve before you had kids. These things take time and now your time is shared with you and your child.”
  7. Use positive affirmations and Leave the negative comments behind. While it’s easier to conjure up negative thoughts about failing, or not being good enough, you should however resist. Dana tells us that the best thing you could do is to love and accept yourself, and think about the things you’ve tried or achieved even if they seem small to you. “Love yourself and accept yourself with positive affirmations and avoid negative comments about your achievements,” she advises.
  8. “Always do what makes you happy,” Sarah Alsammak gives advice to younger women. As generic as that may sound, it is however true. Whichever path you’re on, it doesn’t matter if what you do does not bring you satisfaction, this is why you should always strive towards something you would want to do.

    Keep in mind that this is not static, and that people change, and so do their interests, so here’s a tip: don’t be afraid to be open to new experiences and to try out new things every once in a while – this will actually help you find not just one thing, but plenty of things that will make you happy. Here’s another tip: Don’t be afraid to speak out when you’re assigned with something you hate.

  9. Share your knowledge. Just like how it’s important to inspire and motivate people, it’s equally important to share your knowledge with the people around you. “I love training and I love sharing whatever knowledge I have about my training with others,” Dana shares. According to her, this creates a community of people who want to train and compete. “The larger the community gets the more events we will end up having on the island. Which causes a trickle down effect,” she says.
  10. Find your passion. Cliche yes, but it’s a valid point. May Al-Haji shares: “Race after race, I realized that it does not matter where we come from, if you set your heart to something and you believe then you achieve. We all stand a chance to compete and perform to the highest level if you have the well and the heart.”

We don’t know about you but we surely feel pumped up to conquer the world after we’ve gone through this list.

But that’s not all! Some of our community members also shared with us their methods to stay focused and motivated. Check them out below:

  • @nazarabubakerHaving S.M.A.R.T goals. Instead of saying “I will this task” and realize it’s too big and too late, I prefer to break it down. Gives me a chance to have a slow day if I can’t finish a task.
  • @maleeha.muzafer: To-do lists and calendar booking. If I don’t schedule a time for tasks o my calendar, it will never get done. 

What about you? What’s your most effective way to motivate yourself? Share with us your thoughts on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

 

 

 

 

 

 



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