Day 76: 22.7 miles/1:18
”When you discover something that works become proficient at it – do it well, do it often, make a habit out of it!”
At least once a week I set out on my 100 Pedals rides at 5AM. At that time of day it is dark and cold. It is not my favorite time to ride. Finding a route that is “dark friendly” in Scottsdale is a bit of a challenge – many streets are not lit at all. If there is no morning or moon light, all I have is the light on my bike. And, in the remote residential neighborhoods of Scottsdale, AZ the bike light is simply not enough.
Through a series of experimental rides, I have discovered a bicycle safe and suitably lit bike route. It has become a reliable, safe and expandable route for my early morning rides. Including today, I have ridden a version of this course three of the last seven days. On today’s ride, I have become so familiar with this route that I actually rode much faster on this course and at this time of day than ever before. I discovered something that worked and have found a way to make a productive habit out of it.
Part of getting to successful outcomes is discovering productive processes to accomplishment. The key to taking advantage of these processes is to have a heightened sense of awareness to recognize that something happened that worked. And, to be aware enough of the aspects of the activity that was successful to find a way to work to make it repeatable.
Too often we experience success in a conversation, an activity, or a challenge and fail to recognize the reason for the positive result. Positive results do not happen by accident, they happen by design. Sometimes the first success is an unintentional event; however, creating an environment for successful outcomes future activities need to be designed to be repeatable and predictable events. That comes from recognizing and understanding those components of your activities that resulted in positive results and incorporating it into your future programs.
When you realize success is a particular activity understand what worked, why it worked, and how to make it repeatable. Learn to make that success part of your routine and make a habit out of it. The key, be aware of your positive outcomes and put them to work for you moving forward.
