Its Racing Time...What Are Your Plans?

2013 Tour of Oman, stage 5 - peloton

Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

Lot's of exciting news in the cycling world these days to brighten the optimism regarding the outlook of the sport, especially after the dark off-season. We've got racing in Oman, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy through the weekend. On top of that, the Court of Arbitration for Sport corrected what I would call is the UCI's horrible injustice in denying Katusha a world team license. And, stateside, the Tour of California route was announced.

Your Path to Achievement

Is success a part-time gig? It is a fact that we will consistently perform in the manner in which we see ourselves performing. If you don't like what you see, then change the way you see yourself and you will start to perform in that manner.

Cyclist Supporting a Great Cause

Cycling is a sport that I love and it is disheartening to be constantly asked what I think of the recent news. I could dedicate a number of articles discussing my views but, if you are like me, you are probably tired of hearing the stories over and over and over.

So, this week, I wanted to dedicate my article to a good cause. A friend of mine made me aware of 100 Pedals and, after reading the story, I thought it might be good to share a positive story instead of a negative one.

How Are You Progressing Towards Achieving Your Goals

First week back from an awesome family vacation on Maui. Hot, windy weather but still enjoyed the time on my bike and with my family. The next to last full day on Maui I rode to the top of Haleakala on Maui, stopping only once to fill my water bottle at the 15 mile mark). My wife took the above picture as I was reaching the summit of the climb. So what does this photo have to do with the subject of this week's post? Read on and you will find out.

To succeed in life, you have to have a clear picture of where you are going. Clear goals will give you purpose and direction, and they keep you focused.

Just like an airplane pilot must know their destination and have a flight plan to get there, you need to have your own destination (goal) and road map to get there. Not only does the pilot have his flight plan which is entered into the computer, there are also in-flight adjustments made along the way to ensure the plane stays on course and arrives at the correct destination.

Whether in business or in cycling, those who set goals (the destination) are fare more likely to achieve success than those who do not. But just stating a goal is not enough. You also need to have a plan to achieve that goal and periodically review that plan to see how you are progressing. Maybe your goal wasn't realistic and it is time to make some changes in order to accomplish your goals.

So, back to the why I have a picture of me finishing a climb to Haleakala? The climb is a 34 miles long, rising from sea level to 10,000 ft (all uphill). Not a ride for the faint of heart or someone who hasn't been training. For me, riding to the Haleakala summit was a goal to do this year (the last time I did it was over 20 years ago when I was many pounds lighter and in better fighting shape!). However, I knew what I had to do to prepare for the ride and I knew in my mind how I needed to do the ride if I expected to make it to the top.

Clear goals will give you purpose and direction, and they keep you focused and on target. With your goal clearly in mind, it is easy to make the adjustments needed to make along the way.

So, how are you doing on your 2012 goals? What adjustments do you need to make in order to achieve them? Or do you need to start over and make your goals more realistic?

If you found value in this article, please comment below and/or share with your friends. And, as always, please do not hesitate to let me know how I can help you!

Commitment To Focus, Dedication and Discipline

"No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No stream or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined."  - Harry Emerson Fosdick

I have been listening Bob Proctor's Freedom Series on my training rides (not necessarily a great idea!) when Bob read Fosdick's quote. I stopped, scrolled back and listened to it a couple of times. To me, this is one of the best success formulas I've heard. To me, this is what it means:

Focus - the ability to stay on task and not let yourself get distracted and off-track. In business, sometimes it is easier to do emails as opposed to picking up the phone to call a prospect or a challenging customer. On the bike, it is the ability to stay focused on doing what it takes to achieve your goal. You have to commit to the goal and stay focused on doing what it takes to achieve that goal.

Dedication - commit yourself to putting in that extra phone call, to making the extra effort that your colleagues may not be willing to do. When riding, it is dedicating time required to achieve the goal, whether it is a personal one or even a team goal. If you choose to do, then commit the time to doing it right.

Discipline - in business and in sport, I see as the one of the most difficult tasks. It takes a serious commitment to get and stay disciplined. On New Years, many people set goals to lose weight or go to the gym. However, what they lack is the commitment to stay disciplined to those "resolutions" and, after a month or so, fall back into the ways of old. If you want to success ,you must dedicate yourself to achieving that goal and doing what it takes, day in and day out, to achieve that goal. In business, this is even more true if you work in a home or remote office. You have nobody but yourself to hold you accountable.

In 1988, I had multiple short, medium, long term and dream goals. Three of those goals were to be a National Champion, make the US National Team and the Olympic team (my dream goal), there were days when my wife thought I was crazy. I would go out on training rides all types of weather, one day even trying to ride when there was over four inches of freshly fallen snow on the ground! I committed myself to staying focused on my goals, dedicated myself to doing the work necessary to achieve those goals and was disciplined to doing my work every day to get better. All of this commitment resulted in me nearly achieving ALL of the goals that I had set at the beginning of the season!

When you commit, you focus. You focus your energy, your effort, your actions on the very thing to which you have committed. You are willing to take action without any distractions, action that delivers the results you want.