Look for small victories.

I think one of the mistakes that we all make from time to time, is to become slowed by the large size or enormity of the challenge of what we are tryng to do.

We need to remember to break the whole task down into a number of small manageable steps that stretch us a little and give us a sense of achievement after each. Some people refer to this technique as "baby steps" but I think that expression is not positive enough. If you think of yourself as taking baby steps, don't you feel compromised, 'reduced', defensive and slogging?

I read a book by an ultra-distance lady runner; she said that she never ran a 100 mile race, she always ran a mile race, 100 times

When I cycle a long hill, I now only look 10 or 20 meters ahead of me and just focus on that distance. By the time I am halfway up, I am mentally strong because I have had many good 10m sections. In the past, at the bottom of the hill, I would say to myself, "heres the hill, find a rhythm and keep going"....and my results sucked! I don't know if everyone seemed to pass me or if they actually did! I was trying to do too much, in one big step, without any positive reinforcement along the way.... wrong strategy!

Now, I find a point about 10m or 20m away, say to myself, "focus on that tree", just before I reach it, I look for a new point (never another competitor because they keep moving!), I feel good at each point reached.....then when I do reach a point where I don't feel good, I now have enough smaller victories to offset the negativity of feeling bad at that particular point. I now have belief that my energy will come back..... and it always does!

I am not saying this mindset can overcome poor ability, but it does keep you functionning at the top of 'where you're at'. I climb much better than I used to, I pass many people, I am happier on the climbs and I have energy going over the top.... same me, just better 'mental management'.

Apply this thinking to any big task and see what a difference it makes....