Today we look at the mindset needed for getting better at cycling. We'll introduce a few mental models that are super effective if you are trying to improve your cycling but are useful for all walks of life, from managing relationships to improving productivity.
Let’s dive in.
Learn the power of baby steps
It’s no surprise why it is easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and conversely underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. In fact, tiny changes can make a big difference.
You probably won’t notice a 1% improvement. But over time the maths (or math?!) checks out. If you can get better 1% every day for a year, you’ll end up 37 times better by the end. The key is forming good habits so that you can be consistent over time. We’ll write more about forming good habits in a future LB Club post.
Focus on process
We can very quickly get caught up with outcomes and achievements. Goals are helpful but being all consumed by achieving these goals isn’t. It’s important to remember this because not everything is within your control. You can do everything right and still lose.
What you can control is whether you show up. That’s why it’s much wiser to focus on the process. When it comes to cycling we like to track our progress on Strava and increase distance or intensity in small increments every week.
Be patient - good things take time
This one took us a while to figure out and we still struggle with it. Our brain likes to think about progress in a linear way. 1% better every day. But in reality it doesn’t quite work like this. Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous efforts, which store up the potential needed to unleash a major change. We see this pattern everywhere. For example, a river bank bursting after weeks of rain applying pressure. Similarly, habits often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold.
