Knowing Her “Why” Centers Tiffeny Parker

Team USA Track & Field and Bobsled Elite Athlete Tiffeny Parker is pivoting her career. She joined TaskHuman as a coach to help clients with mindset shifts, behavioral changes, and fitness training. But her biggest contribution to TaskHuman users is her ability to “give space” to all of her clients. 

To explain what she means by that phrase, Tiffeny chatted with fellow coach and TaskHuman Talks host, Jamie Carroll about her life and coaching philosophies. 

Tiffeny attributes her athletic and coaching success to being able to break down goals into smaller parts. She sets her big goals and then reverse engineers the mini-goals she needs to achieve in order to accomplish her original, overarching goal. 

Before you can create your big goal, however, you first need to fully understand the reasons behind it, notes Tiffeny.

“It starts off with knowing your why and what you value,” she says.

When you fully understand your “why” and what you value, you’re better able to set goals that truly motivate you. Working toward a goal becomes less about the destination itself and more about “chasing progress.” You become a better version of yourself, regardless of if you actually achieve what you had planned to do or not. 

Of course, getting the goal is rewarding too. It just no longer is the only thing that is important. Tiffeny understands meeting and falling short of goals at an elite level. Her understanding gives her an amazing skill as a coach. 

“My strength is I can create a space for someone,” she says. “You can come into a space completely tailored to you.”

Tiffeny’s advice for working toward your goals includes:

• Practice the pressure: put yourself in the uncomfortable situations you’ll be in when you need to perform, so you’re ready for all of the feelings and emotions that come up when it happens for real.
• Learn to be selfish and selfless: To reach a goal, you need to make selfish decisions. You may need to move away from loved-ones or spend more time on yourself, for example. But you can also be selfless in who you are as a person. You can still be there for others in an authentic and personal way. Give them your full attention and be fully present with others when you are with them. 
• Be vulnerable about failure: Don’t try to deny or avoid failure. Go for your big goals and allow yourself to feel all of your emotions when you fall short of them. Remember, you will fail at times (but not every time) and you will find growth in your achievements & your failures.

“The journey is in the failures,” Tiffeny says.

Tiffeny believes time is the most valuable resource we have. Below are her strategies to help enable you to make the best use of yours:

• Give back to yourself: Make time for yourself every day, even if it’s just a few minutes.
• Be ok with silence: We can learn about ourselves when we aren’t trying to drown out our thoughts.
• Practice journaling: Using a 5-minute journal helps you cultivate gratitude and encourage positive thoughts.

Want to hear more on “showing up” in life from Tiffeny? You can tune in here for the entire podcast.

For Tiffeny, providing a safe space is her “why.” She’d love to help you on your journey, too. Discover your “why” by booking a session with Tiffeny below!

Book Coach Tiffeny