Why Grit Isn\u2019t Always Enough
\nIt was 6:20am. I was standing at the edge of the pool, staring at the water, and for the first time in a long time, the motivation was just gone.
\nLater that same evening, I had the same feeling. I was supposed to head down to my cold basement for strength training, but every part of me wanted to stay put.
\nBecause of my background as a water polo player, discipline is \u201chammered into my brain.\u201d I did the workouts. I got the laps in. I finished the sets. But without the spark of motivation, it felt heavy. It felt like a chore.
\nFinding the \u201cWhy\u201d (And an AI Tool to Help You Find Yours)
\nWhen the fun disappears and the grit feels like a grind, I always go back to one thing: The WHY.
\nI\u2019m not just swimming to hit a distance. I\u2019m swimming across massive lakes to raise awareness for people living with illnesses. The moment I re-anchored myself to that purpose, the energy returned. It was unbelievable.
\nTo help you find that same clarity, I spent time this week building a specific AI Prompt for ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude. It\u2019s designed to coach you through a reflection to find your \u201cTrue Why\u201d.<\/p>\n
You can find the prompt in my latest article <\/p>\n
A Lesson in Humility
\nI have a confession to make: I thought I was a good swimmer. This week, I had a technique session with Felix, a coach at the local swim club. It was a massive eye-opener. Turns out, I\u2019m not exactly a fish in the water\u2014I\u2019m swimming like a robot (and not even a particularly high-tech one).
\nI\u2019ll be investing a lot more time into my technique moving forward. It\u2019s a good reminder that no matter how much \u201cdiscipline\u201d you have, there is always room to learn and refine the craft.<\/p>\n
Community & Collaborations<\/p>\n
Verena Klaps
\nI had the pleasure of meeting Verena Klaps this week. She\u2019s an incredible keynote speaker and workshop leader. Check her out on Instagram (@verenaklaps). We might be cooking up something together for you all in the future\u2014stay tuned!<\/p>\n
The Alpine 7 – Community Swim
\nWe are locked in for August 22nd for our virtual swim! I\u2019ve seen the landing page and it looks amazing. I\u2019ll be sharing the link with you very soon.<\/p>\n
Big News: The Book is Live!
\nMy book is officially listed on Amazon!
\nWhile you can\u2019t hit the \u201cbuy\u201d button quite yet, it\u2019s there. I\u2019m expecting the first printed copies to arrive next week, and I\u2019m hoping to open up sales then. I can\u2019t wait to get this into your hands.<\/p>\n
Keep swimming and see you next week,
\nBernhard<\/p>\n
P.S. I plan to send my letters out every Friday morning 5 am CET. But as this is a human-to-human connection, please bear with me if life (or my kids) decides to \u201creorganize\u201d my schedule. I\u2019m a pretty good swimmer, but I haven\u2019t figured out how to swim through a family emergency at a good speed yet! \ud83d\ude09
\nSubscribe now<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why Grit Isn\u2019t Always Enough It was 6:20am. I was standing at the edge of the pool, staring at the water, and for the first time in a long time, the motivation was just gone. Later that same evening, I had the same feeling. I was supposed to head down to my cold basement for […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bernhardhengl.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bernhardhengl.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bernhardhengl.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bernhardhengl.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bernhardhengl.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bernhardhengl.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bernhardhengl.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bernhardhengl.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bernhardhengl.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}