Screenshot: Red Bull
Success is not given, it is earned. Since my first days of adventure racing, I have been creating a list of rules that go through my head in every race and every new endeavor. These keep me in check so I can realize my final mission and remind me that success is earned from hard work, dedication, and an understanding that the up’s and down’s are all part of the journey.
With all that in mind, I’m going to outline my rules for success. I hope you take some or all these for your own and push your limits. And don’t hesitate to let me know in the comment section below what your rules are for success in your own life, sharing some of your own stories.
People tend to think about the finish line but really the finish line is a series of a million little moments, over and over and over again. When I’m out there racing or struggling through something (like writing a book), it is a series of successful moments that make a good race. You stack a thousand on top of each other and you are going to have a good race. There will always be a hundred or so bad moments in there but you just stack the odds in your favor — good moments, good movements, a bad moment, another good moment — and soon enough you are on the red carpet and can see the finish line.
Everyone has these big pinnacle events: climbing that big hill in a race, getting a job promotion, getting married. I find the spaces in between are the most important. These are the places you can go the fastest, push the hardest, make a real difference in the outcome. These are the places where may people are complacent. Dig in — you can go and start kicking butt, going faster and harder and don’t relaxing. The spaces in between can be the key to success.
My good friend Kathy, who was much more experience than I was, told me this in my very first adventure race in Australia. It has stuck with me with me for fifteen years. If I’m feeling great, as in “I can do this forever,” it is not going to last. Not to be pessimistic, but in those times that you feel unstoppable, you have to remember to take care of yourself.Keep hydrating, keep eating — do what you’ve learned to do to take care of yourself. On the flip side, no matter how bad you feel, that wont last either. The key to endurance in events, on projects, and in reaching goals is riding through all of the ebb and flow.
Leadville’s very first and gnarly climb,St. Kevins, is great example of this. Since it is the first climb the race, it is a total traffic jam, people yelling “passing, passing, on your left” and everyone is all amped. They are pushing and passing and cutting in your lines, even though there are a thousand other people ahead of them (not to mention miles and miles to the end). Let it go, and let it roll off of your back. You’ll see that person on the next climb. Wasted energy — getting angry, getting pissed off — burns calories that you’ll need later.
I heard a quote once that really has stuck with me: “it’s not what you do, it’s why you do it.” When you are hurting out there, you are hating it, and it seems like there are a million miles to go, ask yourself, why you are there? Are you there to make yourself a better person? Are you there to because you’ve worked super hard all year to get yourself there? Are you there for a friend who can’t be on their bicycle? We are lucky to be out on our bikes, so in those times you are really struggling, remember why you are there. Ask yourself theses thing when you are off the bike in life as well.
This is my mantra for every race I’ve done, whether it is a seven day stage race, an 400-mile adventure race, or a cross-country race. It is better to start slow and finish fast rather than start fast and taper off. Keep that in mind on long races. It may seem like an easy thing to do but it takes really conscience effort once that gun goes off to not get wrapped up in everyone else’s adrenaline and forget your plan.
Intrinsic motivation is so very important. At Leadville in 2013, with four victories under my belt and crosshairs on my back, I came in third place. People were expecting me to be devastated about it because I didn’t win and my record was broken. I was so very proud of it — I reached the goal of actually getting to that finish line and having a really solid race. We are all shooting for a time and maybe a place but those aren’t the things that matter. Those numbers don’t matter in the end. What matters is how you raced, how you were on course, and did you do your best.
Nobody can tell you how fast you can do a race. Nobody can tell you what job you can have for a living or what you are good at. You get to write that script. We all have these little negative messages in our head like: “I cant ride uphill”; “I suck at downhills”; or “I’m not good at that.” You have the opportunity to change that text and do what you want to do. My career path has never been a “regular” career path and races, steps, and your journey doesn’t have to be what anyone else says. It is whatever you want to make it.
On a solo, two day A-Climb of Yosemite and I got my rope stuck on the last pitch. Being alone and in fading light, I cried for a few seconds, feeling sorry for myself. Then I looked around, realizing nobody was around, nobody was there to help me, nobody to feel sorry for me or hear me cry. I had to do it myself. I got my rope unstuck, completed the climb and had a new understanding of my ability to get back up. In the end, that’s all that matters — not that you fell, but that you got up and kept going.
This goes back to writing your own script from Rule #8. A good friend and adventure racer, Robyn Benincasa gave me a great analogy for limits. She told me to think of limits like a kicking soccer ball — you are running and running and running to get to approach the ball, you get to it and you finally kick it. You’ve done what you’ve been trying to accomplish but now the ball is out there again. Your limits are things you put in your head. They are arbitrary numbers that don’t mean anything. It is great to chase a goal but a goal is different than a limit. Forget the limits; throw them out the window and focus on the goal.
I’m a jack of all trades, master of none. I’ve had great success in many widely different sports, including climbing, rafting, running, adventure racing, and now mountain biking. I’ve succeeded not because I’m naturally good at any of them — I was awful at mountain biking for a long time — but because I’ve worked really, really hard. There are no shortcuts to hard work and hard work is what will make you succeed.
Our time on this Earth is limited, so we may as well have fun while we’re here. Even through the challenges and obstacles that come our way on and off the bike, the simple joy of going somewhere and working toward goals under your own power must shine through. Look around, breath the air, feel the sweat on your back and smile.
For more from Rebecca Rusch, head on over to her website, RebeccaRusch.com. And don’t forget to like her on Facebook, as well as follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
