I got up yesterday morning after riding both Saturday and Sunday. The rides weren’t hard or long, but I was exhausted and thought “this is tough.” Then I thought, “I have to do this for 7 days straight and way longer every day in less than one month.” People have been surprised when they ask, “Are you doing the WHOLE week of RAGBRAI??” Up until now I have always said, “Yes, of course!” and they look at me incredulously as if I have 2 heads. Now I have doubt.
It’s human nature to doubt. I used to have this pastor at my church. His name was Chuck. He once gave a sermon on “DOUBT YOUR DOUBTS.” It made such an impact on me that I made it into a sign. I tend to think everything is awesome and doable until I get closer to the event. “Climb a mountain - sure! Give a keynote speech - no problem! Ride 500 miles in really hot weather with 20,000 sweaty people - YES!” Wait - what?
The thing is - and this is big - we are so incredibly powerful. We can truly move mountains and do things we never thought possible. But if we doubt and believe our doubt, then we can’t. We’re stuck. And when we are stuck, we don’t grow and we don’t evolve.
I can and I will ride my bike for a week and it’ll be great. If you believe…you can achieve.
