Change your mindset and change your life. Yes, I hear you … enough with the trite sayings. I agree that often these statements are misused, but they also contain truth if accurately applied. Please, follow me along this path.
Couch Potato Pete decides he wants to lose weight. He thinks a bicycle sounds like the best option. He buys an old beater and rides around the block. His goal is purely weight loss. His perception of self is that he is out of shape and not an athlete, but he is committed to losing weight. One block turns to two, and two to three. Eventually he is riding 10 miles with the mellow group and has lost some weight. That positive change has altered his perspective on food as well as fitness. Remember the Motivation and Momentum article last week?
Time moves along and he eventually hits a healthy weight and has added strength training, a good diet, good rest and is feeling healthy. He is riding even more. In fact, he is now a regular at the club rides and never misses. Others are looking to him as the expert. He is no longer Couch Potato Pete.
His mindset changed some time during the process. In the beginning, he saw himself as an overweight guy losing weight but at some point, he started seeing himself as a cyclist that loves to ride. Others start seeing him differently also.
Do you see the difference? It can naturally change but I say, be purposeful. The way you see yourself influences your decisions.
Seeing himself as a non-athlete trying to lose weight is OK. A great start. But – decisions are difficult and come at you hard. It would be easy to fall back to the couch and drop out of the weight loss plan. After all, he sees himself as an overweight non-athlete. It might be who he is at this point. When you see yourself as a cyclist (or tennis player or weightlifter – whatever), it is who you are, and thus it is what you do. The question is no longer, “Will I ride today.” The question has become, “Where will I ride today?” It is no longer a decision that is made ‘to do’ that activity; it is a forgone conclusion that you will participate in that activity because it is no longer what you do, but it is who you are. Identity. Identity is powerful. Yes, it can be too powerful and be a negative, but we will not go there now. We will stay on the healthy side of identity.
How to get there? Not fast. Literally. Speed is not the important variable. You want to start seeing yourself differently, and the sooner you make that mental transition the better; but you will not jump from couch potato to weightlifter overnight – in your head or in reality.
Start doing it.
Aside – yes, we are cyclists so you might be thinking this does not apply to you. It might not. After all, you are a cyclist and already see yourself as a cyclist. As a cyclist there might be some other improvement you want to make. Maybe you want to start a strength training program. Yoga. Eat better. Maybe you ride a road bike and want to add off road (gravel or trails). Maybe you ride moderate distances and want to try a long distance, or hilly routes. I do not know, but we can all fall into a ‘rut,’ and sometime to get out of it we need to see ourselves differently. We need to act/do things differently.
For example, you want to be fit and want to be ‘the guy who goes to the gym 4 days a week?’ Start going to the gym. Small changes are all that are needed. If you make consistent small changes, you will get there. If you try too fast, often you get derailed.
Here is an example. Billy wants to be the guy who goes to the gym and consistently works out so – week 1 he drives to the gym. He does not even get out of the car. He sits in the car in the parking lot for 10 minutes then goes home. Week 2 – he goes to gym, sits in the lobby 15 minutes, and goes home. Week 3 – Goes to gym, changes clothes, and picks 1 machine. He does 1 set and goes home. Week 4 – Gym, pick 2nd machine, does 1 set on machine 1 and 2 and goes home. Each week he does more and leaves before he is worn out. He still wants more. He keeps going. The goal is to become a person who goes to the gym and works out. He is moving in the correct direction and is succeeding. There is no rush. A small change each time is easily attainable and eventually, he is at the gym for an hour doing a great workout – AND enjoying it. Consistency and small changes get us where we want to go.
Is this the way it usually works? Nope. We are the instant society. We want it all now … immediately … 5 minutes ago. Usually, it is quite the opposite of the above example. A person who is not exercising decides to be an exerciser and goes to gym, stays 2 hours and does everything as hard as possible. They then hurt for the next 3 days so does not want to go to the gym. A week later they are ready to do it again but repeats the first visit; they do too much, hurt too much and create more discouragement. Thoughts fill their head telling them it is not for them, it is not worth it, that they really need to do something else today and will start back at the gym next week. Maybe it makes them despise the gym or maybe they just decide finally it is not for them. Regardless, the gym fades away and now they are paying the membership fee while sitting on the couch.
Yes – extreme examples. It is true though. Start with small changes, but keep moving forward instead of trying to do it all at once.
It happens on the bike. To new folks and those returning. Jim might be riding 30 miles with ease but in an effort to do a century increases mileage dramatically. Or, the the person that is new to cycling or has just returned to cycling decides to start out riding 30 miles day 1. Butt hurts, back hurts, legs hurt, neck hurts. Takes days to recover. They are not looking forward to doing it again. That is not the recipe for success. The other option is – ride less than you are capable. Stop riding while you want to ride more. Thus, you are excited about the next ride instead of being wiped out from the this ride. I know, eventually you can do both. You can ride yourself into a puddle and still want to do the next one. That is great. That is not what gets people started and keeps them coming back. Most of us have been riding so long we do not even understand what it is like to start. It is why when you take a new person on a ride, you have to make a judgement on when to turn around very conservatively. If you wait to turn around when they tell you they are tired (or ready), you have gone too far. Way too far. At that point you should already be back at the car. They do not know when they will tire and they want to be tough – for you. It will end up being a negative. They should finish while they are still fresh and having fun; while they actually want to ride more. While they are smiling and muscles are not aching. While they are still moving at a brisk pace and not at a slow plod. Those rides should be joyful not a death march. Save the death march for the old cyclists that find joy in those types of rides.
To recap, change does not occur instantaneous. I was told a story when I was a child. The question was, how to pick up a cow. The answer was to pick the cow up every day from the time it was born. Thus, as he grows, you grow and can pick him up once he is very heavy. Yes, extreme and not likely. The point was that you do not start at the end. You start at the beginning when it is actually easier (when the cow is little and easy to pick up) and the change occurs slowly with time. As the cow grows, you adapt … it all occurs naturally and slowly. Yes, there is a limit to our human strength … eventually that cow will outsize your strength potential. But again, the story is not about the actual cow but about being consistent and progressive in your development. In the fitness world the words include consistency, specificity and progressive overload. Consistency – you must do it regularly. Specificity – if you want to ride better, you need to ride. Not that other activities do not help, but you still must ride. Progressive – overload the muscles in a progressive way over time because our body does not adapt instantly; to distance, weight, heat acclimatization etc. In our microwave society we want it all now. We want to ‘ride like a pro’ by the end of the week or summer. I love the motivation but the expectations are often too lofty and thus discourage us when they are not met. Realistic expectations are important. Small steps are good steps … each one is taking us in the correct direction.
The transition. The transition from a non-athlete to a person that rides a bike to a cyclist … or whatever your chosen sport or activity. The transition from a person that does the short ride at the club rides to a person that completes a metric century, a century, a double century, a certain elevation gain, a certain route etc. It is powerful. It can be achieved. One small step at a time. There are great books on this topic. If you want a reference – ask in the comments.
Yes, I am mostly preaching to the choir. We ride. Some of us have goals that are beyond our current capabilities. All us of know someone that wants to ride, has just started riding or wants to ride ‘better’. We can help ourselves and/or help others.
What change have you wanted to make in your life, fitness, diet, etc? What small change will you make to start on the path toward that? Regardless, make it small, realistic and attainable … and make it progressive. The long term/end goal … that can be huge, just give yourself enough time to get there. And consider your mindset. I am …
