10 Business Lessons I Learned from a 24-Hour Mountain Bike Race
10 Business Lessons I Learned from a 24-Hour Mountain Bike Race | The Visionary Method
As a business owner, you're always looking for new ways to learn and grow.
So what could be better than learning from some of the most talented Mountain Bikers in Canada?
I recently had the chance to do just that by participating in a 24-hour mountain bike race at Albion Hills Conservation Area.
Here are 10 business lessons I learned from the experience.
As a business owner, I am always looking for new opportunities to learn and grow because I have learned that complacency is the death of your business!
Recently, I had the chance to dive into a brand new (and slightly terrifying) experience where I was a participant in a 24-hour mountain bike race.
While it was certainly a challenging experience, I came away with 10 valuable lessons that can be applied to any business. Here they are…
Accept the ‘Call To Adventure’
I've always been one to take risks, so when the opportunity arose for me to join an upcoming 24 hour mountain biking race - well it didn't take much thinking before saying yes!
I didn’t have all the details, but it felt like a Call To Adventure (should I be brave enough to accept it!).
Getting the invite to join this team kind of reminded me of the phone call ‘invite’ that I got in my late 20’s while working my dream job. The call was from my Boss and from our H.R. director and they ‘offered’ my a severance package and said that I was being terminated.
I could have spent the next many weeks sulking, but instead I embraced the Call To Adventure and started moving forward.
All great adventures start by accepting the invite / taking the call. Have you said ‘yes’ to any adventures, lately?Be Open To Meeting New People At Every Age
My team was a mixed bag of awesome people, from the age of 17 right up to people in their 50’s - all with a common interest that brought us together.
One thing that everyone had in common was a love for being outdoors and enjoying the adrenaline rush that came with riding bikes on challenging terrain. It was great to be part of such a positive and supportive team, and it reminded me how incredible it is to meet new people whenever possible.
It’s tempting to live life in a bubble. You have your core group of friends, a steady job, and a comfortable bed to sleep in- but that isn’t always where growth is facilitated!
New people, new experiences and new perspectives can open up new ways of thinking and I would encourage you to get around new people as often as possible, even if they are radically different than you.
Join a club, participate in a new community, or reach out to someone you’ve never met on Instagram. There are many ways to connect these days, especially with Social Media at our fingertips!
We can learn so much just by being curious about someone’s life story, and often times when we prioritize relationship building our businesses grow instantly and organically.Give Yourself a Pep Talk Multiple Times Per Day
Each time I set out to ride my Laps (we each took turns on the course as part of the relay) on the course, there would be a variety of highs and lows that I would encounter.
Tough hill climbs, bad falls, and heat exhaustion (it was 36 degrees Celsius when we started riding!)
The most important tool that I used in order to survive these laps was my Self Talk and the power of my mindset.
Positive self talk helped me to stay focused and motivated on the course, even when I was struggling. It also helped me to believe in myself and my ability to succeed. If you want to achieve your goals, I encourage you to use positive self talk. It is a powerful tool that can help you to reach your potential.Preparation is great, but eventually you just need to get yourself to ‘race day’
A couple days prior to the race, I began preparing. I packed my camping gear, my clothing for the weekend, and the food that I would nourish myself with (and the drinks I would celebrate with, lol!)
I also prepared my body by riding my Mountain Bike 2x weekly for the 2 months leading up to the event. When the day arrived, I had no choice but to get in the car and drive to the race and get started. There was no ‘turning back’ or ‘delaying the event’
This needs to be how we approach our business.
When you schedule a Webinar, a Launch of your business, or a live event - it’s tempting to delay the event just a couple weeks prior when you ‘don’t feel ready’.
Newsflash - you will NEVER feel 100% ready. You just need to ‘arrive at the race’ and get into action.Visualize the finish line and have your own ‘dress rehearsal’.
Throughout the race, there were times when I felt like giving up. It was hot, I was tired, and the course was challenging.
But knowing that I had a finish line to cross kept me going. At each moment when I felt depleted, I visualized the final stretch of the course and how great it would feel to tap my Time Card and hand it off to my teammate, who would take over riding from there.
I also visualized the incredible feeling of knowing that I worked my absolute hardest and being able to confidently tell my team how I did.
Visualization is like a Dress Rehearsal for what you’re about to do, which enhances your chances of success!
Are you using the power of Visualization to increase your odds of ‘finishing’ a big project or getting through a tough week?It’s a Marathon, not a Sprint.
Well, it actually wasn’t a marathon (that’s a running term) but it kind of felt like it, since we were committed to 24 hours of team riding!
My teammate reminded me of an important lesson which was to pace yourself and go steady, rather than sprinting and then needing rest the entire way through the course.
He actually tested this theory, and his lap time was the exact same time when he did the ‘Sprint & Rest’ thing vs. the ‘Steady State / Slow down to speed up’ mentality.
Just like in business where there is no overnight success by sprinting ahead and skipping steps, and the only sustainable growth methods are those that are implemented over time and consistently.You don’t need to think too far ahead. Just focus on what is right in front of you.
No sense thinking about your Night Lap (the one that happens in the dark, with a headlamp) when it’s still daytime and you have daylight laps ahead of you.
Dreading the middle of the night lap does nothing except pull you out of the present moment. Instead, just focus on what’s in front of you. What are you riding right now and how does it feel?
In business, we tend to think ahead to all that could go wrong. We think ‘what if nobody shows up to my masterclass’ or ‘what if my launch completely fails’ - when in reality that is pulling you out of the present and into an unpredictable future.
Focus on the next smallest step and on the present moment rather than thinking ahead too far.Celebrate your accomplishments!
You better believe that after crossing the finish line, I took a moment to reflect on what I had accomplished. I would text my husband and say “just finished another lap” and I would give him the breakdown of how it went.I am a big believer in celebrating your successes which is why within The Visionary Method™, we are actively creating a community that celebrates each other’s wins regularly.
One of the ways that we help our students to celebrate their wins is to show up to our weekly coaching calls, feeling like they have a safe space to #humblebrag with each other.
We have created a place and time for you to CHEER YOURSELF ON you because you deserve the dopamine hit!
We often don’t want to share our wins because we are humble people and don’t want to boast - but I want you to get a little outside your comfort zone here!
It’s important to…
Share (confidentially) when your clients have successes
Tell a family member the POSITIVES in your business journey rather than complaining about the negatives, all of the time
Confide in industry peers to let them know what’s going well (and sometimes, what isn’t)
Don’t be afraid to share , celebrate and reward your hard work before you move on and get busy with ‘life stuff’ right away.
Smile and say hey to everyone. One word can make someone’s day.
A smile is one of the easiest and most effective ways to make someone else feel good. It costs nothing to give, and yet it can have a profound impact on the recipient.
A simple “hello” or “how are you” can brighten somebody’s day and make them feel valued and appreciated. It can also open up a conversation (and sometimes those conversations have led me to new business partnerships!)
And when we take the time to truly connect with another person, we may be surprised by how much we have in common. In a world that can sometimes feel impersonal and disconnected, a smile and a kind word can go a long way towards making someone feel seen and valued - and when that is the case, you build a true longstanding relationship that has endless benefits for business growth.
So next time you’re out and about, remember to Smile and say hey to everyone. You never know how much it might mean to them and what the ripple effect will be.Pack a sleeping pad for your tent
Remember how in #4 I told you to prepare, but eventually just get yourself to race day?
Well, sometimes that means you arrive only to realize you forgot something or don’t have everything perfectly organized - and that’s ok. There’s always a solution.
For example, I arrived for 2 nights of camping without a Sleeping Pad for my tent! Whoops. That meant I was sleeping on the cold, hard ground.
But the world didn’t end, and everything was ok. On the bright side, I’ll never make the same mistake again!
There you have it, 10 Business Lessons I Learned from a 24-Hour Mountain Bike Race.
I hope you enjoyed this blog. If so, please come connect with me on Instagram!
And if you're looking for a new challenge in your life, look no further than starting your own business.
It's an adventure that can take you to amazing places if you're willing to accept the "call to adventure" and embrace uncertainty.
There is always growth on the other side of risk, so dive in and get started!
I have plenty of Free Downloadable Resources for you to grab and if you want to take it one step further, learn more about The Visionary Method (for people like you who want to generate their first $50,000 in revenue from their own business)