I took up cycling about a year ago because I had been told that it was good for my hips that were showing signs of arthritis. I was a bit resistant to begin with but there are obvious benefits with cycling: being fit – something that I have always tried to be, enjoying the freedom of being outside, feeling like a child when I start pedalling from a standing up position and more importantly having thinking time. I am very fortunate in that I live in a village surrounded by the most beautiful countryside so it gives me a real buzz of inspiration when I look, feel and smell the fields around me.
What I didn’t expect were the lessons that I have learned through cycling. I had a pipe dream that it would be nice to cycle through France. So I mentioned it to my husband who said “Ooookay so how are you going to make this happen”. I then mentioned it to our two sons. One of them was keen and the other one had other plans involving India, which was probably a bit too far to cycle!
At this point I was feeling completely overwhelmed about the whole project and couldn’t see how I could make it happen. There seemed to be far too many obstacles in the way. How much would it cost? What route would we take? Where would we start from? Where would we stay? How would we get back? Would I really be able to achieve it? It was still a pipe dream and not something that I really believed would happen.
It wasn’t until I was talking to a colleague that I made the decision that I was really going to go for it. I am not saying that it was plain sailing but from then on I really believed that it was going to happen and that it was just a matter of getting on with the planning.
In May this year myself and my son cycled from Le Havre to Biarritz and my husband was our support and scout on his motorbike. It was the most wonderful trip and having made the decision I never doubted that we would get there. The added bonus was having a chance to spend two and a half weeks with my 23 year old son.
What I have learned is that I can apply this in other areas of my life and have done so with my business since returning from France. I have found that when you make the decision to go for it you tap into a part of you that believes you can do it. Then everything else falls into place and it is just a matter of systematically working through the obstacles.
My next pipe dream is to cycle the length of New Zealand – North and South Islands. Now that feels really daunting at the moment. It will be interesting to see when I make that decision to go for it.
Posted by Maureen Moore (Gold Performance Coach)
Tags: ATTITUDE, BEHAVIOURS, CHANGE, MOTIVATION, PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY, STRATEGY, SUCCESS, WINNING