Interview with Naomi Van Den Broeck
Written by Trackandmemes, May 24, 2023
Believe in yourself.
You’re worth it! The first step to being successful in whatever you do is confidence. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.
It’s basically like if you have a company and you’re going to an investor who has a lot of money, you’re trying to convince that investor to give you the money. But if you don’t believe yourself that you deserve it, then how is the investor then going to give you money so that you can be better ? So you have to imagine that you’re both the company and the investor, you’re one person. So you have to look at yourself in that way that you’re worth the effort, you’re worth the time, and your dreams are worth the effort and time.
The reason why people engage in bad habits like eating unhealthily, sleeping late or skipping training is because deep down they don’t believe in themselves enough, so they let themselves go. They leave their fate to chance and become controlled by bad habits. If you truly believe you can achieve something, you would stop at nothing.
Hobbies are important but remember your priorities.
Make a list of your hobbies and focus on the ones that bring you joy and fulfillment. Example: hanging out with friends. Try to find ways to hang out with your friends that don’t hamper your recovery. Meet up with them after training for example. Do a relaxing activity together. Bring them to training. Explain your goals to them so that they are more willing to adapt their activities to you. Real friends will understand and support you.
I like playing the guitar and I think that’s a good hobby because it’s very relaxing. It’s good for my brain. I also like reading, and that’s also good for mental health. So you have your hobbies and focus on the ones that bring you joy, fulfillment and that help you to relax. And if those hobbies align with your priorities then that’s amazing.
Seek help from experts immediately when you feel a niggle or an injury arise.
They will not only know what to do, but it will relieve you of stress knowing you have help.
So if you feel something on wednesday, instead of leaving next monday for the physiotherapy you go already thursday or friday because it allows you not to have five days of stress. Thinking about what to do with it, what is the solution… So to avoid these five days of stress, you just go already Thursday or Friday, if this is possible, to have only one day of stress and you already have someone, an expert who knows what to do and who knows what the next step is.
So that’s what I would have done when I was younger. I would have liked to go directly to someone who knew what to do. And I didn’t do that because I was a little ashamed of having a wound. And I was also too disappointed to have something or feel something that I didn’t want to leave. Or thought maybe that it will disappear by itself. But even if it will improve, it’s better to have the advice of an expert.
Don’t spend too much time on social media.
I know that’s strange coming from me, who’s always posting on social media. But I think that you need to control your social media use.
It is important to take breaks. I believe it is one of the biggest addictions that we don’t talk about. Excess use of social media can affect our sleep and recovery more than we think.
So what I like to do for Tik Tok for example is to delete the app and I only download it on Fridays for example. Because I find this app extremely addictive. And then I delete it again on Sunday. I don’t delete my account, just the app.
Also with Instagram, I like to take breaks. Once I’ve posted my video, I like to then delete the app. And then I use it if I want to go and answer messages for example. I log in on Safari or on the browser. So not on the application. Because I feel like when the apps are on my phone, it’s so easy by default to go on them. And I think that you can waste a lot of time, a lot of hours on it, without even thinking about it. But the thing is, with social media, it’s also a great tool to connect with people. And sometimes, I find it extremely motivating to see videos of other people training. I see that my competitors are training and I feel like I want to train hard too. So it’s also very motivating.
Find a good training group that motivates you to show up. Iron sharpens iron.
So if you have highly motivated people around you then it will automatically spread over to you and you will also feel motivated.
I know there are other athletes who might read this who will think that they don’t have such a great group or they’re alone. Maybe this will help them to find a group that motivates them.
Be financially secure by finding a job that is not too stressful and that integrates well in your life.
It's good to find a job that’s not too stressful and that integrates well in your life. So this can mean many things for different people. But for me, for example, in the beginning of my career, I worked as a tutor. I help people with mathematics and schoolwork. And that worked very well because it’s not stressful. I was just using my brain. I was not doing it physically to get money, but I was doing something which required not as much energy.
It’s important to be financially secure because Athletics is not a sport where you can get a lot of money. So if you can choose a job that you enjoyed and that you can combine with Athletics then you have found a good thing.
For female athletes.
Understand the effect of your menstrual cycle. I tend to crave a lot of unhealthy foods a few days before my period. At first, I used to feel guilty when I ate unhealthy food because I didn’t understand that my body actually needed it.
So now when I’m starting to crave these unhealthy foods I know immediately that my period is coming and then I allow myself to eat something unhealthy because I know it’s just natural and my body needs it. And that gives me peace of mind being aware that it’s just my body needing more fuel. So I end up being less harsh on myself basically.
During my period, I am in really great shape. This is different for everyone.
I run really really fast when I’m on my period. When I don’t have cramps of course. So I noticed that I can do a lot of training during this time but this is different for everyone. What is important is to write down how you feel in the different phases of your period, also before and after. And understand your body. You’re going to have your period until your menopause. So it’s like three or four decades.
It’s a long time to be able to spend wondering what’s going on with me.
Find the contraception that works for you. I personally use an IUD.
But everyone has to find out what really works for them. And I think it’s important to spend time to figure that out.
Think long term.
Especially when it comes to injuries. Don’t be afraid to tell your coach that you feel an injury coming along. It’s better to be honest. I know you don’t want to disappoint your trainer, but it is more disappointing to get a long term injury.
For example, I had a lot of injuries between 2015 and 2021. I haven't gone to a championship for 6 years. So one of my first championships was the European Junior in 2015. And then straight from the Europeans juniors, six years later I went to the Olympics. So I had to wait six years. So the thing is that we will have to think long-term. You can get injuries, but you will always find a way to come back. Because if you want it bad enough, you will find a way to come back. So think long-term and have this conversation with your coach when you’re feeling this injury coming.
Don’t take advice or seek the opinion of people who haven’t achieved what you’re looking to achieve.
What I mean by this is if I want to learn how to drive I’m not going to my brother who doesn’t have his driver’s license to ask him how to drive. If I’ve been coughing and sick for a week, I’m not going to a psychologist to ask him how to heal me. I am going to a doctor.
Don’t go to your best friend who has. never done track and field to ask him if you have to continue this sport or not, or what he thinks about your time on the 100m. Because they will definitely not know anything about what you’re trying to achieve. So don’t seek validation or advice from someone who doesn’t have the vision you have or knows anything about what you’re doing. Because then you’re just setting yourself up for failure. So I think it’s important to be careful about who you’re asking about stuff because you can get very disappointed. We can get easily influenced by somebody.
Consistency is key.
What do I mean by that? Firstly, it means that you have to consistently show up to training if you want to get results. Secondly, it means you have to continue training hard EVEN when you’re injured. This is especially important because I think a lot of athletes forget that training is a better form of rehabilitation than just resting. By training during an injury, you will shorten the time it takes to come back. You will also be able to work on weaknesses you didn’t think about before.
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