This morning it was cold. Very cold. My garmin said 53 degrees. Which, for a Californian, is verging on Arctic temperatures. Last night it was raining. And dark. Both days I rode my bike. Part of the reason I was able to find this motivation is that I recently finished reading Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. This book has reinvigorated my drive to be a successful cyclist. While mainly directed toward business employees and managers, his concepts and ideas are applicable in pursuit of any passion. He supports his argument through research on the concept of deliberate practice. According to Colvin, deliberate practice is designed specifically to improve performance, is endlessly repeatable, highly demanding and not very much fun. This is much different from putting your headphones in and spinning down the bike path without regard for cadence, HR, power or anything else. Though he allows that enjoyment definitely helps to improve motivation. People that desire to be the absolute best in their field, world class even, engage in deliberate practice for hours. Colvin supports Malcolm Gladwell’s theory, proposed in Outliers, that 10,000 hours of practice are needed to achieve greatness in any field. I once did the calculations on this, and in order to ride 10,000 hours, averaging 10 hours a week (just to make the math easy 😉 I would become a very good cyclist by the time I am around 50 years old. So watch out masters categories. I’m getting ready now.
I chose to write about this book because of the final chapter. To conclude his book, Colvin asks, What do you want? And what do you really believe?
What do you want? And what are you willing to give up in order to achieve that goal? The title of this post is taken from an example in the book of a gold medalist ice skater. Her goal, her all-consuming passion, was to win a gold medal. And in order to reach that goal she had to fall. Many, many times. On ice that is not forgiving. She had to wake up early, skip going out with her friends, skip the pizza, skip the beer, and engage in thousands of hours of deliberate practice.  Colvin is clear, the path of deliberate practice is fraught with difficulties. Failed relationships, lonely evenings, isolation. Somehow, great performers find the motivation to persevere.
What do you really believe? Do you think that because you were not born with an innate gift, you cannot excel? After reading Colvin’s book, be ready to examine that belief.
So, while the book emphasizes world class performers that started their practice before the age of five, the ideas and lessons can be applied to any pursuit at any age. I found it inspiring. Though I may not be an exceptional cyclist for many more years, every time that I get on the bike I am pursuing my goal.