As a cyclist, I enjoy following le Tour de France each year.
I don’t always understand all of the intricacies of strategy and tactics, but I appreciate the difficulty of riding more than one hundred miles per day for three weeks over some of the highest, steepest mountains in the world. (I borrowed these thoughts from the archives.)
Like most sports, competitive team cycling is all about exploiting small advantages. It turns out that the most important strategic stretches in this grueling race are the climbs. Great riders know the best point to pull away from a competitor is on the steepest, most difficult part of a climb.
The best place to be remarkable is where the path becomes its hardest.
At first that seemed counter-intuitive, but the rationale makes perfect sense. It’s nearly impossible to get away from the best riders on easier parts of the course because they can probably match any acceleration. Only the steepest climbs can separate remarkable from nearly best.
I applied this idea to my own rides. It’s nearly impossible to make much improvement going downhill—gravity already does most of the work. If I really want to decrease my time on a particular route, I have to focus on the uphill sections.
I had to transform my attitude toward climbing. The slowest, hardest part of the ride isn’t a place to merely survive. The hills are the best place to thrive and get stronger.
The easiest time to stand out is when the ride’s the hardest. I thought about that as a principle in many different arenas.
- If you’re doing a project at work, everyone looks good on the easy stuff. You stand out by doing well on something that’s too challenging for others.
- In customer service, anyone can please a satisfied customer. The remarkable person finds a way to work with an angry, difficult customer and convert him into a repeat client.
- As a teacher, most good instructors could work well with motivated, curious kids. I always admired my colleagues who figured out how to reach the resistant, disinterested students.
- Want to serve? Who’s helping the folks who aren’t so easy to help?
- In a workout, easy activities don’t increase strength or fitness very much. The biggest gains come when you’re tired and keep going while everyone else gives up.
Lots of people can do the easy stuff, navigate the flat terrain, and coast downhill.
Want to write a big, remarkable story? Climb the tough hills.
What can you do to confront a challenge and write a great story with your life?
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