An Easy New Year’s Resolution
It is that time of year again… Everybody is making New Year Resolutions…ones that you know will last the best part of January, if you are lucky.
You know the ones… Lose some weight; Moderate any drinking and that annual favourite – Get Fit.
I cannot help with the first two… but I may be able to help with the Get Fit one…!
Gym membership shoots up in January – that is when the local Gym makes their profits… Their business model is good; sign up in January and keep paying for the next 12 months even if you don’t use the Gym anymore.
Gyms’ cost anything from £25 to £50 per month or £300 to £600 per year.
Instead of paying out for membership of a club, you may not use very often, why not Buy A Bike! Or if you already have a bike – you’ve just saved yourself, up to, £600 – a fantastic start to the New Year.
Now what… you’ve got a bike – now the easy part – just ride it… to quote one of the greatest pro riders of all time:
Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride. (Eddie Merckx)
But where… how long for… how hard…!
What you need is a Goal… something to aim for… a specific distance (5mls; 10mls; or 25mls) or a set time (30mins; 1 hour) but set yourself a simple goal and when you have conquered that one… set another one.
Even one mile to start with is a Goal…!
Then start to think about joining a specific ride… a local Cycling Sportive; or even a National one.
For instance, this Article is written in early Jan 2019 – what about setting a Goal to ride in the Prudential Ride London 100 – a 100mile around London that is taking place this year on Sunday 4th August.
Goal Setting is a simple process of writing down what you what to achieve.
A short summery goes something like this.
We’ve decide on our Goal – The Prudential Ride London 100, so if we write that down, it has to pass 5 criteria, and it must be a SMART Goal…
So, what are SMART Goals…?
From the business world, SMART stands for Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic and Time-Sensitive.
Covering each of the points:
Specific: Don’t be vague. Exactly what do you want? We’ve written it down, a 100 mile ride in 7 months’ time. If you really wanted to be ultra specific, set a time on it. I want to complete the course in under 7 hours.
Measurable: Quantify your goal. How will you know if you’ve achieved it or not? You will know whether or not you received that finisher’s medal.
Achievable: Be honest with yourself about what you can reasonably accomplish at this point in your life – along with taking into consideration your current responsibilities. If you are going to be on your holidays abroad on the 4th Aug – it is just not achievable, why not look for another Sportive ride later in the year. There are plenty of them from which to choose.
Realistic: It has to be do-able, real and practical. This is the one that you have to decide, with a bit of work: Can I do it?
Time: Associate a timeframe with each goal. When should you complete the goal? This is an easy one – you have a fixed date – Sunday 4th August.
Once you have set your goal, once you have committed to it, you will complete it.