Winning 101 for your riders - how to achieve goals (with pointers from Bon Jovi, and Baldrick).

by Angela Reed-Fox

What's the difference between those who achieve their goals and those who don't? 

Most people would assume it's to do with motivation or willpower. In our experience, it's what people do rather than what they are that brings success with making significant and even life-saving changes. All the ones who made big things happen seemed to doing the same things; obviously everyone's different, but these 6 things seemed to work the best. Feel free to adapt and adopt from the tips below and share with your riders:

• Have a goal. The bigger the better. You'd be surprised (and there's research to back this up), but those who have bigger goals are more likely to achieve them. Why? Probably because there's more upfront commitment.
• Have a cunning plan (thanks to Mr  Baldrick from Blackadder for this one.) You need to break that huge goal into manageable chunks. What small changes can you make today that will have you heading closer to where you want to be? Small changes sustained over a long period make a massive difference, whereas overdoing it for a couple of weeks before fizzling out just tends to create confidence-sapping frustration.
• Set yourself up to win. It's your life (as Bon Jovi would say), not the Olympics. Set the bar low enough that you can manage what you're asking of yourself, and more besides. The buzz from achieving more than you expected will keep you motivated when you go through the inevitable sticky patch. Also, only make changes you're happy to keep up permanently. If you think giving up ice cream sundaes would sounds terrible (it would be), then don't do it. Life is for enjoying, you just need to find the right balance.
• Be accountable. Tell someone what you're planning to do - or better yet, do something together.
• Remember there's a difference between 'exercise' and 'training'. Exercise is what we reluctantly did at school. Training has a goal, a plan, and a focus.
• And finally, be impulsive. Don't wait for January, winter, Monday, or a day when you're wearing the correct socks for your star sign. Just crack on and do something - and remember - the only workout you'll ever regret is the one that never happened!
  

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