Small Change... Gigantic Improvement!
By introducing two simple principles to your training regimen you'll improve your performance by 100%
Hello everyone,
I’d like to welcome everyone to a great New Year! I'm sure you’ve all seen some great improvements in the past twelve months and I have no doubt that you are all setting the stage for even greater things to come. I’m sure that some of you are even working your New Year’s resolution right now. Perhaps you plan to train more, spend more time with the family, eat better, get into better shape… whatever it may be, I’m positive that you’re on the right track so give yourself a pat on the back.
However, there are two “resolutions” I believe we should all set. But rather than setting these resolutions at the beginning of a year, we’re going to set these two resolutions everyday from now on. Two resolutions, that if we achieve each of them, we’ll see an immeasurable success towards the realization of our goals. Here are your two resolutions:
RAISE YOUR STANDARDS
BE CONCIOUS OF YOUR DECISIONS
Let me first talk about raising your standards. This goes well beyond positive thinking… this is a strategy! Name anyone who has seen an enormous amount of success in this sport and you will have named someone who has set their standards higher than anyone would have ever asked of them. Let’s look at it in regards to training.
Most people train only what they must. They train just hard enough to keep fit, they train just hard enough to be able to climb that hill, they train just hard enough to stay a Cat-3, they train just hard enough to finish with the group, they train just hard enough to finish in the Expert field. But in actuality, they’re barely training at all. As your coach, if there is anything I hope to install into your psyche, it is to GO BEYOND WHAT YOU MUST DO!
Lance Armstrong is not the cyclist he is because he trained just hard enough. He didn’t start the year and say, “As long as I train hard enough to win the Tour de France, I’ll be okay.” He came out every year for the past six screaming with his actions! I WILL TRAIN HARDER THAN ANYONE. I WILL TRAIN SMARTER THAN ANYONE. AND WITH MY TRAINING I WILL BEAT MY COMPETITION LONG BEFORE THE RACE EVEN STARTS! Lance raised his standards higher than his team director set for him, higher than his coach set for him, higher than the public set for him, and in turn he raised the standard of Tour de France victories with 6 in a row. And because Lance raised his standards… every Tour de France winner from now on will pale in comparison until someone wins 7. Until someone says, “Lance’s standards aren’t high enough.”
Ask yourself if you are truly training the way you want to train, or are you just training the way you should train? I’ve heard it said a thousand times, “I should ride 2 hours today, I should sprint harder, I should climb that hill, I should do the last interval, I should commit myself to finishing this workout, I should, I should, I should… This is what is referred to as “Should-ing all over yourself”!
RAISE YOUR STANDARDS and turn your “should” into a “WILL”! Remember the greatest growth comes from the greatest challenge! When you’re doing a sprint workout, and you’re sprinting ten times… which sprint will hurt the most? Number 10! But which sprint will give you the most improvement? Number 11! Some people SHOULD do sprint number 11 and some people WILL. Which person are you?
In the early fifties, there were over 100 medical journals, from renowned doctors and the most prestigious universities of medicine, on how it was physically impossible for a human being to run a sub 4-minute mile. Physically impossible!! Now we all know that Roger Bannister shattered that claim by breaking the 4-minute barrier but what many of us don’t know is that nearly forty more people broke the 4-minute mile within the following 18 months. Now had all of the runners in the world been training for that goal at the same time? Or was there a shift in the conscience of people as to what it meant to raise your standards?
This leads me to my next point, being conscious of your decisions. I recently heard a great quote from Deepak Chopra who said, “Nearly every person walking this planet is under the assumption that they are constantly thinking, when in actuality, it is far more likely that they are being thought.” What Chopra meant by this is that too often we let the decisions of others govern our lives. Roger Bannister had tens of thousands of people far more accredited than him tell him his goal was impossible. But he made his own decision! The decision to prove them wrong… and when he did, he opened the door for everyone else who had stopped knocking.
I’ve heard all the great excuses; you’re not a natural climber. You can’t train when you have a family and a job. You can’t break the record time trial. You can’t lose the weight. You’re too old. You’re too young. You don’t have enough time in a day or in a week…
Are these decisions you’ve made? Have you truly tested every possible strategy to see the validity of these choices? Or have you just settled for what everyone before you has settled for? YOU ARE NOT PAVLOV’S DOG… you are your own person and no matter what you’ve heard before, no matter what excuse you have, and no matter what science you have to back it up. I PROMISE YOU that either someone has already proven you wrong or someone soon will! The question is, will that “someone” be you?
I challenge you to take this new year by the horns, to truly raise your standards and the standards of everyone around you, to not let other peoples’ decisions guide your actions and live a life that people dream of. It is far better to challenge yourself completely in life and sport than to settle for a standard chosen by others.
Welcome to the New Year,
Donny Quixote