be definite.

I bike for exercise and for getting around town. I derive pleasure from knowing that I’m going where I want to go, using my body, relying on myself and not waiting around for public transportation nor partaking in the ambiguous joys of driving in a car and using the law of attraction to find the best parking spot.

As much as I revel in the exhilarating feeling of cruising past traffic jams, feeling the breeze in my helmet-hair and the bugs on my teeth… sometimes the thought of biking uphill (both ways — there’s a mountain) on my daily ride ends my story faster than a fat lady singing while bursting my balloon by sitting on it.

Thinking about what I don’t like about bike, does not feel good.

How do I manage to bike on days I’d rather not bike? On days when the rain is a-flowin’ and the wind is a-blowin’? When I’d rather snuggle in my cozy bed?

Solution: I don’t think about not doing it. I don’t entertain the thought of not. Catchy.

I just do it. Not all the time, but when I know that I want to, for reasons other than the superficial ones offering their resistance. When I know that I’ll thank myself for it later, I do it now. It’s my gift to myself.

My mantra while biking uphill when I don’t have to: “Do what is hard, and your life becomes easy.”

Tech Analogy

I use a zonealarm-type firewall program in my brain. I allow my brain to run pre-approved programs (habits such as cycling), ’cause I know that these programs help me to maximize my productivity and enable me to take advantage of opportunites that benefit by my practiced traits (vision to see what I want, commitment to the result, discipline to make the effort before seeing the results) and abilities (health, endurance… feeling confident I’ll make it to my appointment on time).

Let Your Results Motive You

Sometimes it is hard to pull myself out of bed at 5am to bike somewhere when there are other, seemingly more enjoyable ways, of getting the same result. BUT. Usually when I bike, my desired result is something more than just the ‘getting somewhere’ part. I keep this in mind.

Okay. This is important. If your goal or your intention is to get somewhere and that’s it, then sure, drive there. Get somebody to drive you there. IF you just want to get somewhere.

But why not be smart about it? Reminds me of the semi-famous water story.

Think about the results and benefits you gain by doing the thing that seems hard, i.e. biking to the beach, doing your work, doing anything that you don’t really want to do right at this moment.

Example: Motivation to Cycle is more than the Getting Somewhere. It is the Going Somewhere.

By biking you get the smell of the fresh air; the feeling of your body working its systems; the physical exercise; the mental relaxation of the ride; the challenge of sucking it in while biking by some hotties; not to mention the challenge of changing gears while remembering to breathe as you pedal your way up the side of the mountain, hearing in your mind the words of Nietzsche (or some guy who’s translated Nietzsche’s words into English) encouraging, “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,” repeating as an ironic mantra before you reach the top gasping, “Thank God!”

All the green hippie people will applaud you. All the vehicles on the road will envy you. (Unless it’s raining.) All the vehicles on the road will hate you when you take your half of the road. You love yourself by investing in yourself and being an example of that crazy person who bikes places at 5am.

Some Quotes to Get Your Fired Up

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” - H.D. Thoreau

“If you’re bored with life — you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things — you don’t have enough goals.” - Lou Holtz

“Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.” - Les Brown

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” - Epictetus

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” - Zig Ziglar

“People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going…. Do it now. You become successful the moment you start moving toward a worthwhile goal.” - Earl Nightingale

Just Do Something

And pay attention to how you feel as you do it. Your feelings are your guidance system that let you know when you’re in alignment with that you really want.

****Remember that most people don’t ever take that first step. Most people are sleepwalking through life, taking what is given to them and accepting what they are told to want. If you can take just one step in the direction you choose, and do it CONSISTENTLY, you are on your way. Keep stepping. One step each day — the number of steps isn’t important; what’s crucial is that you keep doing it, a little each day. Dance with life all the way to the top with the 1% who dare live what they want!

Point: Do what makes you feel more free, even if you have to hold yourself down and make yourself do it at first. We are creatures of habit, so choose the habits you want to shape you. Warriors are forged in fire! Or in rain; take your pick.

Sure, life is a process.. but the process is to focus on your desired results.

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