Out on my regular cycling route, I had just come out of a sweet, fast descent feeling pumped!
My finger went for the gear shift in anticipation of the fast approaching climb. “Click!” Nothing! “Click, click!”Another two clicks just confirmed that I was in trouble. No matter how many times I pushed the lever, my gears weren’t changing. My rear gear cable had broken. In a flash, I was reduced from a 21-gear option to only 3 gears. And did I mention that I was only 20km into my 45km ride?
Under normal circumstances, I would have gotten all worked up. Annoyed at the broken cable. Mad at the inconvenience. However, not this time. Things were different. My mind was in position to deal with the situation. Where before I saw an inconvenience, this time I saw an opportunity. An opportunity to stretch myself beyond my comfort zone.
“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.”—Bobby Unser
In ‘Why Position, Possession and Procession Matter’, I had shared that “Often, life’s curveballs may blind us to our personal and professional potential. You may feel rejected, dejected and ejected. My encouragement is to always fall back to the right position, take possession of that potential and then proceed with courage and conviction.”
Guess what? I even managed to record some best times along some stretches. Three things came into sharp focus during this episode. Heart. Mind. Body.
Heart
My ‘why’ is a compelling goal to stretch beyond my comfort limits. That goal is to achieve 5,000km in 2019. With a target to aim for, I have something more compelling to chase than the fitness I want to maintain. That goal keeps my motivation ticking. From past experience, if I just went for fitness, chances of dropping off were very high.
Mind
The mind gives me a presence that I can transcend a challenge, pain or limitation. It transforms insights into action. It keeps track of timelines, accomplishments, failures or gaps. It is the mind that re-callibrates our body’s GPS to match what the heart has set out to do.
Body
Conditioning my physical being is a continuous process. Fitness is not gained in a day, rather through regular, progressive habits. There is no shortage of physical well-being activities and programs. It is easy to choose one. The hardest part is maintaining the focus you need to achieve that fitness. This is where goals that are driven by the heart and mind help the body to triumph.
“Keep goals creative and human…keep goals close to you and achievable.” — Mark Freeman
To be in position, I must practice taking the small steps towards my big health dream: to stay fit by cycling 5,000km this year. To keep this goal close and achievable, I broke it further to riding 100km per week. That may seem high, until the focus becomes 40km during the week and 60km on the weekend.
How was it to ride on 3 gears? Let me just say my lungs and leg muscles were having a fit! It was tough especially as I had a number of climbs up ahead. But when I made up my mind to keep going, my body followed suit. The amazing things is that I still put in an average speed of 23km/hour and achieved my weekly 100km goal! Six weeks into 2019, I was at 613km (against a 600km goal).
In my next blog post, I will guide you through how to set goals that are meaningful, achievable and get you where you want to be.
Q: What in your life do you need to get back in position? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Photo by William Hook on Unsplash
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