Are You Making Progress or Excuses?? And a Gran Fondo in Beverly Hills

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As you already know... You can either make progress or make excuses... But you cannot do both. Excuses keep you where you are with no hopes of getting out while progress takes you everywhere you want to go! Excuses are the nail in the coffin of dead dreams while progress is the seed that blossoms to a grand oak tree! 

Hope Is Not A Strategy

As many of you know, my blog postings are not always about cycling. The focus of Cycling CEO is about success in business and on the bike so, this week, I've tried to bridge both business and biking.

There is a saying that in life you are never given more than you can handle. Life has the tendency of giving you what you expect. If you expect failure, then failure will be all around you, but if you expect success then success will come knocking at your door. 

Confidence - Believe In You

Photo courtesy of ninikalviee.blogspot.com

This past weekend wrapped up a busy week of cycling. Vincenzo Nibali winning the Giro after leading for nearly two thirds of the race. Tony Martin winning the Tour of Belgium and Freddie Rodriguez, at age 40, winning the US Professional Road Championship. Each of them is talented in their own right but also have one common trait that led them to success - confidence.

In a broad sense confidence is the ability to believe that you can reach your goal. But what gets in the way of your confidence? Probably most everything, if you let it!

You Have to Believe to Achieve

Photo Courtesy of www.makingmountainsmove.com

Each of us encounters obstacles, big and little, nearly every day of our life. Little obstacles are little problems and usually, with a modest amount of time, thought and effort, we overcome them. Big obstacles typically are representative of bigger challenges. And, because of that, we often let them paralyze us or hold us back from moving forward.

However, big or small,whether professionally, personally or athletically, the process is the same.

Success and Failure

I intended this week to writing something specific to cycling. This morning, I received an email with a link to this video and I realized that I had to deliver a different message this week.

Throughout my life (and I'm guessing many of you), we've experienced success and failure. Success is great. It validates the fruits of our labor, it keeps us motivated to push forward for more. Failure, on the other hand, is a different beast.

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.

You Can't Achieve What You Don't Believe

You can't achieve what you don't believe. It’s reality.

It’s the reason why quotas don’t work with your sales people, why you struggle to get your managers to hit deadlines, and why you find it difficult to improve inefficiencies throughout your company.

And since you can’t dream that it might actually happen, you don’t do what’s required to make it happen. You hope that somewhere along the way something lucky happens to change the circumstances.

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.

Pushing Past Your Limits

Ever have a moment at which time at which you just can’t go any further? Whether it's exhaustion or fatigue, in work or on the bike, you are exhausted and your body says "no more?" 

But does that mean you've hit your limit or is there more? Is our ability to achieve success limited?

Overcoming Defeat

Alberto Contador scored a gutsy stage win and rode into the red jersey on Wednesday. Photo: Graham Watson www.grahamwatson.com

This week's posting comes courtesy of Alberto Contador's never give up performance and Ash Cash. If you are one of the fortunate viewers to be able to watch the Vuelta on NBC Universal or via an online streaming site, then you cannot help but admire Alberto's efforts. On the toughest mountain days, he has constantly attacked Rodriguez, hoping to gain valuable seconds and move closer to the red leader's jersey.

For three epic mountain days, they battled with the opposite result - Rodriguez gained a few seconds on Contador. As a viewer, I was convinced that Rodriguez was the stronger rider and barring an accident, he was going to be wearing the red jersey on Sunday in Madrid. Alberto, however, refused to accept defeat and after every stage would tell Rodriguez he was coming after him tomorrow.

Tomorrow came on Wednesday, a day few, if any, expected to be very exciting. Contador snuck into a large break with over 50 km remaining. He used his teammates to perfection, won the stage and took a solid lead in the overall general classification. Rodriguez had no answer, riding across the line appearing shattered from the day's events.

So, you ask, what does this have to do with this guy Ash Cash? Ash publishes a daily email titled "Daily Word." On Tuesday, the day before Contador's epic ride, his daily word was titled Overcome Defeat. Ash was kind enough to allow me to share it with you.

"Happy Tuesday my soldiers and survivors! Welcome to the day that you finally say enough is enough! Today's Daily Word is dedicated to overcoming defeat! Defeat is defined as having been beaten in a battle or demoralized and overcome by adversity. Life is a challenge but in no way should you ever let it beat you or demoralize you! Every single thing you go or are going through is designed to simply make you stronger! No circumstance is ever permanent unless you give up! I know there may be a lot going on in your life by by all means ITS ALWAYS TOO EARLY TO QUIT!! In life, you will never be given more then you can handle! If your obstacles are seeming too much for you to bear then you have not fully recognized your power! OVERCOME DEFEAT!! Recognize your power and use it to make you situation better! When all else fails take a step back from the situation, relax, breathe and start over! Sometimes taking a step back can help you take a step forward! You are more powerful than you even realize! Don't let your power go to waste! Stay strong and Tell life you are not Having it! Nothing can stop you but you!!"

-Ash'Cash

We are never going to go through life without adversity. It is how we deal with that adversity that either makes us stronger or defeats us. When the chips are down and it looks like you've been dealt a bad hand, do you quit? Or do you decide that, as Ash said in his Daily Word, that it is too early to quit and that you refuse to lose?

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."

-Richard M. Nixon

Ash'Cash is a Business Consultant, Motivational Speaker, Financial Expert and the author of Mind Right, Money Right: 10 Laws of Financial Freedom. For more information, please visit his website, www.IamAshCash.com.

A Sad Day For American Cycling

AP Photo By Peter Dejong, File

Hello from San Francisco! We in San Francisco moving our son into his college dorm room and get ready for freshman year. Although this is our second child to head off to school, my wife and I are melancholy about another one leaving the nest.

On our way back to the hotel tonight, the news alert popped up on the screen of my iPhone. First, that Lance had decided to not defend himself against the USADA. Shortly thereafter, another news alert that USADA had banned Lance for life and were stripping him of his seven tour titles.

Lance has done a lot to boost the popularity of cycling in the US and, to his defense, he has brought a huge amount of attention and support to cancer research. So, when I heard the news tonight, my reaction was mixed.

See, I first met Lance in 1989 when he was a very brash 17 year junior, taking the cycling scene with talent last seen from Greg Lemond. He had swagger and produced the results to back it up. It was hard to like the guy but you couldn't argue with his results. He talked the talk and walked the walk.

I don't know if Lance is guilty or innocent. However, his willingness to just give up really made me wonder if there is more truth behind the USADA allegations than we want to believe. For a guy who I've seen fight everything he encountered for over 20 years to just give up the fight doesn't make sense. Why quit unless...

No, I'm not going to speculate that Lance doped. I'll leave that to the experts and others with access to proof. But, this is a sad day for american cycling. Lance quit the fight, gave up on something he has vehemently denied ever doing.

Don't let this ruin your enthusiasm for cycling. The sport is a lot cleaner and there are many up and coming talented riders that will take the sport into the next decade.

But there is a lesson in here for all of us. As Jim Valvano said in his waning days of fighting cancer, "Don't give up, don't ever give up." And, from my younger days, a quote I remember: "Winners never quit and quitters never win."

Hope you all have a great week! As always, let me know if I can help you.

5 Steps To Success

As I write this article, I am watching today's stage as Brad Wiggins closes in on his goal of winning the Tour. Wiggins' single-minded focus to winning the Tour and how he has prepared himself can be boiled down into five simple steps, steps that are core to success, whether on the bike or in your business.

1. Set Intention. Wiggins decided he was going to win the 2012 Tour de France. One he declared what he wanted, his plans started falling into place. It all begins when you declare your intent and put a plan in place to achieve the goal.
2. Hire coaches. In addition to his Team Sky coaching staff, Wiggins went out and hired an Australian swim coach. Only he knows but but it obviously has worked! To excel in any area, you virtually always need a guide. Who is your team of mentors and coaches who can help you achieve success?
3. Clear Fears. Self-doubt, lack of faith, negativity. Negative thoughts such as these have a way of creeping into our heads. You've got coaches/mentors to help you prepare so rely on them to instill confidence and erase all the fears as they arose.
4. Take action. So you've set your intent, hired a coach/mentor and are feeling confident that you can do whatever you put your mind to doing. Now what? Take action! Nike's slogan says it well: "Just do it." If you don't do it, how are you going to succeed?
5. Persist. Expect that you will have setbacks along the way. But don't look at those setbacks as failures but as an opportunity to learn and grow. Rely on your coach/mentor to help you learn from your setback and to provide the encouragement to keep pushing you to success. Don't think that Wiggins just rode off the track, onto the road and into the yellow jersey. He had his setbacks along the way but persisted and kept his sites set on his goal.

Final Words

I hope you enjoyed this article. Please let me know how it’s working out for you on Twitter or by sending me an email. I love hearing about people implementing and getting results. And, if I can help you in any way, please let me know!

You Can't Win the Race Without...

It has been an exciting three weeks of cycling with the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of California both taking place this month. After many days of hard racing, neither race was decided until the very end.

In the Tour of California, Robert Gesink won the Stage 7 finish atop Mt. Baldy as well as put himself in position to win the overall with only one day remaing. In the Giro d'Italia, it was settled on the last day, mano a mano between Ryder Hesjedal and Joaquim Rodriguez.

However, in both cases, neither Gesink nor Hesjedal would've been in the position to win the race if it weren't for teammates.

Often overlooked and under appreciated (unless you are the guy for whom they are working), the other six or seven guys on your team were there to get their team leader to the finish line. Whether it was Christian Van de Velde of Garmin pulling for kilometers up the Stelvio pass or someone dropping back into the caravan to get bottles from the team car, each rider had a role to play and a hand in their teammate's victory.

This same analogy can been seen in successful businesses. No one person can do it all. It takes a team, pulling together with a single purpose that delivers success. The sales rep may be the "team leader" but, if he is to be successful, he needs a strong supporting cast to aid him in his victory.

In business and in sport, it is proven time and again that you cannot win the race without the help of others to put you in the position to utilize your strengths when it is most important. Surround yourself with a strong team and you most certainly will taste success.

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