shift early, shift often
The first time I was on a bike with gears was the first time I rode in lycra. I was on a borrowed bike and felt like I could win the Tour de France.
I was with thirty adult men also in scantily clad spandex on a Saturday morning doing a 60 mile ride into Malibu. I was the youngest dude on the ride by a decade or maybe two and they knew it. On the first major climb one of the more tenured members of the group looked over to me and said:
“hey kid, shift down a few gears so it’s fair for the rest of us”
Meaning, he wanted me to shift into a gear that was a few clicks harder so it was an even playing field between us. I happily, and naively, obliged so that I could stay with the cool kids at the front of the pack. About thirty miles later we were traversing our way around the back side of Malibu and the same guy recognized I was hurting and said:
“hey kid, use the other gears”
At this point I was so far gone, seeing double and struggling to remember the route, that I forgot to shift gears and was barely moving.
I shifted, and finished the ride by picturing tacos and lemonade at the finish that weren’t there. I was congratulated by everyone, including the un-mentor that chaperoned me into, and out of, the hurt locker over the course of the day. I learned a valuable lesson that day:
shift early, shift often
It’s a phrase I tell myself often, like when I realize I’m in over my head on a project or idea or in this case, a bike ride. When I’ve completed a few tasks on the to do list and don’t want to quit but know I should because the end goal isn’t what I want anyway. Or when I learn about something else later to pivot towards that’s more closely aligned with what I’m trying to achieve.
It’s a short and simple phrase, but simple is rarely easy, and the hardest part about this simple phrase is putting it into practice. I’m often reluctant to sacrifice a sunk cost or an idea I was really excited about, but I’ve realized recently that time is a very precious resource and one I cannot squander anymore on ideas that aren’t serving me, the people around me, or the ideas I want people to remember me for.