Your best just got better

Day 7, Mile 379.3... Next stop: Frisco, CO (Ride the Rockies comes to a close...)

Well, I am up, ready, and excited for yet another day of riding the Colorado backroads.

It's fascinating...all this week I have put off deliberately "thinking," instead letting the ideas show up organically. Until today...

At a coffee shop in Leadville, CO, I sat down next to the "community bookshelf" and reached for one of my favorite series of all time:

"Harold and the Purple Crayon." This one is called, "Dinosaur Days."

If you have not read any of Harold's adventures, I suggest starting with the first one...you can find it in most bookstores.

Today is a classic example of Harold's crayon creating reality; 8 months ago I wrote a goal, and today I plan on reaching my full potential in that area of focus.

I will finish this tour early this afternoon, riding about 430 miles. Tomorrow I begin another tour, this one starting and ending in Steamboat Springs, and I will cover another 400+ miles of Colorado roadways.

The reason I wanted to type up this very short entry is:

If you take the chance of writing something down, or in Harold's case drawing something, the chances are it could come true!

So, what are YOU willing to write down?

Staying focused, one climb/work session at a time

On a climb recently, I realized my mind had slipped back into work mode. I was thinking, "What are some of the keys to productivity?"

(C'mon, have you ever been in one place, doing something, and realized your mind was somewhere else...a half a world away?)

One night, I looked through the mountain air toward the sky, and there I saw a faint, seemingly-twinkling star. I thought, "I wonder what this all looks like from there..."

From a couple of notes I scribbled while resting at one of the aid stations on my bike ride this week, here are 4 things to reflect on while you are performing:

1) Think about what you are thinking about. While I am riding - upwards of 50-90 miles a day - I find it easy to be distracted. So, ocassionally I stop the internal mind chatter by saying, "Hey Jason, look around and see something that was hidden up until now."

This immediately brings me into today, or even better... into right now. I do the same thing when I am working at my desk in my office! I know enough to know that I can be just as "spaced-out" at my workspace as I am riding dozens of miles on the open road.

2) Envision success. People ask me what my "pre-" rituals are. You know, pre-speech, pre-race, pre-meeting...

Your confidence is built by starting with a clear picture of "there," as well as some of the images of "along the way." This helps formulate a strategy for using your resources - time, energy and focus - effectively and efficiently.

Write it down, or describe it to someone in detail (one of my clients calls her voicemail machine at home when she gets to her office.. She tells herself what her intention is for the day - what she plans to work on, what she plans to finish, and how she plans to "be" that day).

3) Practice the "big things" on the "small things." Consider what it takes for you to perform at your best...pretend it's a work day, you are presenting at an upcoming meeting and three major projects are underway.

What do you need to succeed? How about: - A restful night sleep the night before; - Plenty of water throughout the day; - A balanced, protein-rich breakfast; - A step-by-step plan for the day, open to serendipity & interpretation.

Well, you don't want to practice this routine once a week (or worse, once a month or quarter!). Make it a habit, start this week and pick something you know will support your leadership and performance. Do it...everyday...and get used to doing it.

4) Stay engaged. Let's face it, you will be interrupted, your mind will chatter and distract you, suprises will appear, and other people's lack of planning and their failure to execute on their own unclear and ambiguous goals will force you to unhook and unfocus on your MIT's - Most Important Things.

Your competative advantage? ----- ›

Come back to where you are. Look far enough ahead to stay on course, AND create action steps that are small - and significant - enough to experience regular, consistent wins.

Think on this: We're all following stars in the sky, and if we follow the bright ones, the ones that energize and stimulate our efforts, we will change, and slowly the world around us will change as well.

"The agreements" - or, "What have you signed up for?

I'm not even one day in to my vacation, and I have already completed reading one book...yahoo! I know/knew I needed to be reading more, and already this month have finished reading/researching three! (The latest is: The Four Agreements, by Ruiz.)

Here is something that landed in my journal while I read...

Do you have a lot of ideas about how things could or should be? What if you took one of those ideas and gave it a little more...more than just a passing thought. If you put your full attention on that thing for just 5 minutes, what could happen?

Get paper, a pen, and a timer. Set the timer for 300 seconds. Press start. Write down one of the biggies you're thinking about, and then, on that same piece of paper, write ANYthing else you can think of associated (or semi-associated) to that item.

For the whole day tomorrow, keep that piece of paper handy, and during your "5-minute windows of time," ask yourself this question:

How can I engage and move forward in that area of my life?

Sure, it's risky...you might wind up making some major progress sooner than you thought!

If you had "time" to think, what would come to mind?

So, I'm flying to DEN (typing this post on my Treo handheld PDA) and for the first time in just under a year am NOT traveling with my laptop computer.

By now, with the Fasten Seat Belt light off, I am usually "deep" in a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or PowerPoint presentation (yes, I am on a Mac - still using the Microsoft programs for most of my "productivity").

Well, with no computer, I am left with some time to think...A little bit scary AND exciting at the same time!

In the day-to-day hustle and bustle of life, have you ever noticed how you do NOT have the time you would like?

A question I answered this morning - and one that I am going to experiment with by writing about for the next 5 days - was the following:

"If I could expand my thinking in any one area of my life, which one would it be and would that thinking look and sound like?"

In my journal (I bought a brand new, lined Moleskine for this trip) I wrote:

What are you here to do?...What is your contribution, and how will you demonstrate that?

- - - -› How does that question sound to you? If you had "time" to think, what would you wonder about?

T minus 1 day - Ride the Rockies is on the horizon!

Here I am, abourd flight 1398 an my way to Denver. The thought of the morning, the one rolling around in debate, is:

If not now...when?

I was telling some friends about my upcoming tours, and someone said, "But, how do you have time to do this?"

I replied that I had blocked this time on (or is it off?) the calendar for 10 months. Late last summer, I decided to take these two weeks for myself.

I will say it wasn't especially easy to keep these dates free, as several weeks ago client calls started to come in to schedule consulting times.

I continued to hold on to the dates, and by golly it's working!

So, what are you thinking you would like to do for one or two weeks next year?

Put it on the calendar now, and see what happens!

If not now...when?

Testing mobile blogging

Well,

I am off to Colorado for "the ride of the year!" I want to see about blogging the adventure, and will attempt to do so at semi-regular intervals.

Riding through Colorado this summer (Ride the Rockies and Bicycle Tour of Colorado)

On Saturday, June 16th 2007, I fly to Denver in preparation for my FIRST big bike tour of the summer: the Ride the Rockies. 

The Denver Post has sponsored the ride every year since 1986 and this year will be their 21st.   

Daily rides can be as short as 35 miles or as long as 100 miles, but generally average 60-65 miles.  It is such a popular ride that they have a lottery for participants and limit the number to 2,000.  Last year they had 4,000 applicants. I was lucky enough to secure a spot!

This year the ride is 455 miles long, starting and ending in Frisco, Colorado.  The ride goes over some major mountain passes and takes a week!  We camp in the host towns, usually at the local school so we have access to showers.  There we rest up, eat a great meal, meet new friends, and get ready for the next day's ride.

Then, on June 23rd, I get ready for my SECOND big bike tour of the summer: the Bicycle Tour of Colorado. My brother will meet me on that Sunday, and we start riding around CO again! (We did this tour, the BTC, last summer together.)
 

Day 1 - 57 Miles-We will ride from Steamboat Springs, up and over Rabbit Ears Pass (9,426’ summit, Grade 6.8%) and finish in the town of Walden.

Day 2 - 75 Miles- Out of Walden and a climb up Willow Creek Pass (9,621’ summit, Grade 6.3%) through Granby, past Snow Mountain Ranch, and into Winter Park.

Day 3 - 75 Miles- Climb out of Winter Park to the Continental Divide at Berthoud Pass (11,315’ summit, Grade 6%). Cruise down through Empire and then climb back over the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass (11,992’ summit, Grade 6%). Coast down to Lake Dillon and follow the bike path up to Copper Mountain.

Day 4- ???? Miles- Ride the chairlift up Copper Mountain. Rent a mountain bike. Explore Summit County. Wash your bike. Take some photos. Meet new friends. Enjoy the mountains!

Day 5 - 56 Miles- Climb out of bed and climb up Vail Pass (10,666’ summit, Grade 7%). Down through the towns of Vail and Minturn. Then climb Battle Mountain and Tennessee Pass (10,424’ summit, Grade 6%) to finish in the historic mining town of Leadville. If you get to Leadville and feel the need for more miles, cruise around Turquoise Lake for 15 bonus miles. Camp with spectacular views of Mount Massive and Mount Elbert, Colorado's two highest peaks.

Day 6 - 70 Miles- Out of Leadville climb Fremont Pass (11,318’ summit, Grade 5.7%). Coast into Summit County, then follow the Blue River for a few miles and end up in Kremmling.

Day 7 - 70 Miles- Out of Kremmling we take the scenic route over Gore Pass (9,527’ summit, Grade 6.3%) and back to Steamboat Springs.

As you can see, the next two weeks are gonna be amazing...here's just one picture from Last Year's BTC...I can't wait to see what we come up with this year!

The power of completion!

I received a note from someone who's read my articles and this blog for a while. Reading it, I felt an up-leveling of engagement and energy...I know I'm doing good work!

Anyway, thanks for your help. I think the biggest change you have instilled by your writings and podcasts is in helping me to acknowledge what I do achieve rather than being down on what I don't. As always, this is work in progress!

What does inspiration have to do with productivity and performance?

I presented a full-day seminar to a group of city officials in Northern California last month. During lunch, three different people approached me and said:

"You speak to thousands of people per year, you talk about the same thing over and over again...how do you stay so excited about Professional Performance?"

It's a great question...

Looking to get motivated? Start measuring!

Ok, so this may be the "easiest" tracking sheet I've ever seen! And, chances are if you'll stick with it for "just" seven days, you'll notice some pretty interesting patterns. I know I did!