Doing what you love

As with many aspects of your life - work or personal - you must be doing something you love, but you cannot just fall in love; you must stay in love.

You need to be passionate about what you are working on. As Angela Duckworth said in her book GRIT, it is about “doing something you care about so much that you are willing to stay loyal to it”.

Your level of passion goes through different stages:

●?????Interest – enjoy what you do!

●?????Practice – trying to do things better.

●?????Purpose – work or personal matters.

●?????Hope – rising to the occasion.

If I reflect on these four points from Angela, an excellent example in my life would be my new love of cycling.

I started cycling many years ago, going to school, shops or even for a short mountain bike ride in the New Forest. However, I fell in love with cycling after recovering from cancer in 2020.

Firstly, I did my homework on what to buy, the bike, the computer, the shoes, the pedals, the clothes, and the wheels. This got me interested and keen to see what the professionals and my friends used.

The next step was to practice, practice, practice. With a collection of ride data from 3-4 rides a week, I could see a difference in my performance. The internet helped me fine-tune my training plan and add specific gym sessions aligned to cycling.

So, what was my purpose? Yes, it was to get fit and stay fit, which helped to keep my sugar levels under control (Type 2 diabetic), but also it drove me to break my records, be it a few laps around a track or a long 100km ride. Also, as a bonus, I have made so many new friends. Cycling is a great community to connect people.

I plan to continue enjoying rides wherever I am in the world. I am in love with cycling and will stay in love!