The Change Catalyst

Having just completed the longest bike ride of my life, I thought it would be good to share a few insights I got from the event. I would like to use this as a metaphor to contrast with how successful people go about achieving their own goals – business and otherwise.

One of the guaranteed ways I know to build self esteem and character is to set worthy goals and make them happen. In other words, do something hard and achieve it. If you need a boost in your life, find a challenging task that has been on your mind for a while and start thinking about how you can make it a reality. Here are a few thoughts to help you along the way:

Managing Adversity

Your ability to handle unexpected, or even expected but tough conditions will determine how well your success moves forward throughout your life. In any kind of bike race, rain is not your friend. So when I woke up at 2:45am to get ready, mist and rain was falling outside. How would you react to such an obstacle? One rider declared that he would only ride 40km, instead of the 240km planned as he ‘never rides in the rain’. (Ironically, the rain only fell for the first 40km!). Whether you run away from obstacles or make adjustments will depend on your willingness to take sensible risks in pursuit of your goals. When I saw the rain, I packed a wind-breaker, checked my brakes and made a mental note not to ride too close to the other riders.

Mental toughness

Related to adversity is mental toughness. Any long challenge or goal involves a battle with the mind games we all play on ourselves. When things get hard, thoughts cross our mind telling us it will be alright to quit, giving us very logical reasons why we should just stop. Success is often accompanied by demonstrating strong mental strength in the face of adversity.

The ride had a 60km section which involved almost continuous rolling hills up the mountain to 1600m. Riders commented that although they had ridden steeper (and shorter) mountains, the relentless nature of the uphill roads was a major challenge. As I was climbing up, I even noticed other riders just sitting by the side of the road pretending to have a mechanical malfunction – just to get a breather! Fine, if you are tired, rest. But why pretend something else is holding you back?

Later in the race after 130km, I started to suffer from a sharp pain in my left knee which had started about a week before the race (I think this was due to my saddle height being incorrectly positioned as it slipped during a training ride). For about 60km I was in constant pain ranging from uncomfortable to excruciating. I almost dropped out several times, but keep going. I will share with you how I overcome this pain below.

Make adjustments

When I started having knee pains, it wasn’t too bad and I kept on riding. Yes, I ignored the feedback my body was sending to me. How often do we ignore small feedback and wait until the feedback gets bigger and bigger? Well after 130km, I got the big feedback and the massive pain through my left knee was not to be ignored. So what should you do when you get feedback? Make adjustments. Here’s what I did. First, I dropped my speed and intensity of riding. That wasn’t too hard as I was physically in so much pain it would be have been almost impossible to continue. However, dropping away from the pack of riders was a psychological blow. The pain did subside slightly though. Next, I started to make changes to my environment – my bike. I lowered the saddle height and tried that for a while. Didn’t work. In fact, things got worse. Just like in real life when you try something out, it may not work well straight away. Don’t be afraid to scrap the idea and try something new. After a kilometre or two I raised the height of my saddle and that seemed to work a little better.

However, by this stage probably due to the stress I had put on the knee the pain was still very sharp and I started to think about dropping out. I couldn’t see how I could get through another 100km. One thing I did notice was that my heart rate was dropping to a very low rate – under 100 beats a minute – as I had slowed my speed down considerably to 20km/hr from around 30km/hr. So I thought if my heart rate is low I can exert myself a bit more. I started pedalling with my right leg only, making an over-exaggerated push down and then doing my best to get my left leg through the cycle without feeling too much pain. This pedalling rhythm must have looked rather strange to another watching, but I didn’t mind. That’s the good thing about pain, it really focuses your mind. I kept this up for about 10km and realised that I could do a half pedal with my left leg and then after about another 20km I could actually push through with the left leg without any pain.

I liken this to focusing on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. Once I realised I had a perfectly strong right leg and my aerobic condition could be pushed higher without stressing too much, I just used these strengths. Amazingly, for the final 30km I was pain free. All these adjustments as well as moving my position on the saddle and handlebars helped to keep me moving forward. I have to say that I was a little surprised to have got through to the end, but goes to show that being willing to continually make adjustments and having the mental toughness to keep going saw me through to the end of the pain tunnel.

Set small targets

I had always intended to finish the entire 240km ride, as I felt that my endurance levels were high enough having completed an Ironman triathlon two months before. However, as explained above when the pain in my knee kicked in I could see no way of finishing. Although this would have been a blow to my ego – that in itself was not enough to keep me going. At about 150km, I almost quit. The only thing that kept me going at that stage was to at least match my longest bike ride of 180km. That was my target to beat. When I reached 180km, my knee was no longer that painful so I re-set my target to 200km. Once I went passed 200km, I realised that I would be able to finish the race. But without setting the increment targets along the way I would not have reached the final milestone. This is what I call ‘giving yourself a way out with respect’. I could have quit when I passed 180km because that would still have been a success in itself.

We all know that we need targets and goals to accomplish worthy projects, but we also need the step-by-step goals that get us through the hour, day and week. And we need the flexibility to change them when we find they are too tough or too easy to achieve.

Stick together

In a group ride, you can cycle with other riders in a peloton and draft from the cyclists in front of you. This offers significant aerodynamic benefits (think of a flock of geese flying in formation) of up to 20%. You can match the speed of the rider you are drafting off at a lower intensity, saving your energy.

In your goals and targets, do you have a ‘peloton’ team to support you or are you riding alone? Successful people have mastermind groups of like-minded experts to push them through the tough times and support them when times are bad. When cycling you pick up a few cuts and scrapes as well as broken chains and tire blow outs. Having a buddy to stop and help you fix it up makes the journey much more pleasant. Whatever your target in business or personal life, have a buddy to support you.

Share your experience

Along with a team to help you on the journey, the sharing starts beforehand. I was able to share my experience learned from training for an Ironman triathlon in hot tropical conditions and especially on nutrition. Taking food while riding was new to several of my team-mates, and they said it helped them through the ride. Other team-mates had more riding experience which they shared with everyone.

We all have skills, knowledge and experience to share. If you wish to feel more a part of your team or mastermind seek ways to support the people supporting you. Be proactive to give tips and encourage your team.

Reward yourself

Don’t forget to reward yourself after the race! A major part of success comes from learning delayed gratification. Holding back on something you would love to do (for me it’s eating chocolate!) until you have achieved a part or all of your goal. I have a chocolate box which I allow myself to raid after a race is finished. I enjoy it a lot more and it allows me to keep a few kilograms lighter for the race which helps.

Give yourself small treats and rewards but make sure that you reward yourself after the successful accomplishment, not before!

Get ready for the next challenge

Once you have achieved a worthy goal and rewarded yourself, have a few days off to relax and enjoy the glow of success. Then, start thinking about the next challenge.

British Olympic rowing legend, Steve Redgrave, famously said after racing to his fourth Olympic gold, “If anyone sees me go near a boat again, they have my permission to shoot me.” Redgrave’s retirement did not last long. Four months later, he was back in training to become the first endurance athlete to win gold medals in five successive Olympic games. Whether you are a world champion or not, you still need to set yourself that next challenge. Don’t be satisfied by living on past successes. The best one is yet to come.

Hopefully these tips have been helpful to you and your worthy goals. Look forward to hearing your comments.