TIP OF THE WEEK--21 FEBRUARY 2023

Will you be happy with your future self?

​Picture this…you just rolled back into your driveway from a multi-hour winter base training ride.  It’s cold, you’re cold, you’re tired and hungry, and you just want to get out of your cycling clothes and get some good food and warm up.  You glance at your bike as you park it in your stable and see it’s a mess. 

“It’s OK,” you think, “I’ll clean that later.” 

And then you get busy or just conveniently forget until…the next time you go for a ride and it’s a mess or worse and not even rideable.  So you just lube the chain and deal with the extra wear and tear, until that next time.  And the cycle repeats.

Or maybe it’s the pile of cycling clothing that’s growing, or the water bottles that are a mess both on the inside and outside.  Or your head unit showed that your power meter battery was low and “you’ll change it later.”  Or that tire with a slow leak.  Or that head unit that needs to be charged.  Or countless other little things that may provide a barrier and time delay to you starting your next ride.
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I write about these through personal experience.  I’ve struggled with all of these things and more, and been frustrated with myself when I go out for my next ride.  Although as I “grew up” and got busier, I did improve in this domain but it’s far from 100%.

I recently heard a great suggestion that really resonated with me to help us all make better decisions when it comes to these little tasks.  Ask yourself the question, “Will my future self be happy with my current decision?”  I like to take it just a step further and ask:

 “Will my future self be PSYCHED with my decision?”

The busier I get, the more important taking care of these post ride chores becomes, and the more psyched I am when I take that extra step.  It might even mean, gasp, ending my ride 5 minutes early to fit it in, but it saves a whole bunch of self-aggravation later.

I bucket this together with also being proactive, such as setting out my clothes for that early morning training, or getting my bottles prepped hours before my ride when I have 5 “extra” minutes.  These are definitely decisions that my future self is psyched about.

I know many of you may have all of your cycling and life tasks wired, and I admire that and aspire to that.  If not and you’ve have experiences like me, set yourself up for success with those little less-than-fun chores. Especially at those times when they’re least enjoyable.

I’m off to get ahead on my laundry and prep my bottles for tomorrow’s ride.  And my future self is going to be psyched.

Word.
Coach Brian