Is it too late to find a new passion? Absolutely not!

Resilience is something we hear and talk about a lot in both our professional and personal lives. Resilience refers to the ability to successfully adapt to stressors, maintaining psychological well-being in the face of adversity. The pandemic has accelerated the need to have discussions and take tangible actions around this to enable employees to perform at an optimum level and avoid burnout. To me, health and setting personal boundaries were the biggest stressors that I needed adapting to.

Finding a new passion during this period has certainly helped me to be more resilient and navigate the challenges. It is not easy to find a passion and sustain it over a long period. I thought of sharing my story which may help at least some of you in finding and sustaining your passion.

Exactly a year ago, I took one week vacation to recharge and rejuvenate. My plan was to relax, read few books, binge watch some Netflix dramas and take out my road bike that has been sitting idle for the last few years. Little did I realise that this decision would have a far-reaching impact in creating a new passion - cycling. Since September 2020, I rode a total of 9168 KM, this is about 750 KM per month. I ride 3 to 4 times a week of which the weekend ride is about 110 KM around Singapore with an amazing group of friends. This has become my way of blending work, play and family and create my own way of resilience and most importantly impacting my health in a positive way. I look forward to my evening rides after a packed day of work and early morning rides on Saturdays when I need to get up at 4 AM to hit the road at 4:30 AM.

I am the kind of person who did not have a passion for sports or any stable hobbies for that matter. ?I would have never imagined that I will develop a deep passion for cycling. During the recent chat with a friend who knows me for the last 30 years was telling me that he too never imagined me becoming an active sports person and he is so happy with the personal changes I have made.

?Regular cycling has helped me in the following ways:

?1.??Building endurance - I used to get exhausted after few kilometers of ride and now I can ride non-stop for 60 KM at a stretch before taking a break. Doing 100 KM was an impossible dream, but now doing 100 KM has become a Saturday routine. Regular cycling has helped me build my stamina to withstand 5 to 8 hours on the road, at times in sweltering Singapore heat.

2.??Positively impacting health - I recently did a health checkup and marked improvements were visible in some of the parameters which were on border line before. My resting heart rate came down by 10 points because of regular cardio exercises.

3.??Meeting some amazing human beings - I have had the privilege of meeting some amazing individuals who supported me and without whom I would not have developed this passion. What unites everyone is the passion for cycling. Come rain or shine, we would all be on time at the meeting point early mornings and evenings ready for the ride.

?Sustaining the passion, especially if it is new, is not an easy task and a methodical approach is needed. What worked for me are the following:

?1.??Surround yourselves with people who share your passion: ?You will not be successful in pursuing it alone and having the right environment is crucial to be successful. When I was sharing my plans with a friend, he invited me to join his riding group and took me under his wings. Though I was bit hesitant that as a rookie, I will slow them down, but he insisted that I join him. That was probably the best decision & had I not done that, I am sure that after my vacation, I may have abandoned the plan. During my first ride, I met an amazing group of cyclists, several years older than me, but they were so enthusiastic and supported me throughout the ride, often waiting for me to catchup with them. Their energy and passion were so contagious, and I was motivated to train further by joining them every weekend. Hearing about my beginnings, another friend and colleague invited me to join him on a 110 KM ride around the periphery of Singapore called as Round The Island (RTI) trip. Armed with the confidence of having the mobile numbers of several bike transporters, I joined him. First attempt was not successful due to tire punctures, but I managed to complete the RTI second time even though it was very exhausting. What started as a 3-member group is an active community of 20+ passionate riders now who can speak for hours about cycling and will show up promptly at 4:30 AM Saturday for the long rides.

?2.??Set goals and keep adjusting them: The best way to get started is to set small goals and keep revising them as you beat them. I use Strava and a bike computer to record my rides and capture information like routes, distance, speed, cadence, heart rate etc. This is a very effective way to keep a track of the progress, aim higher as you meet the goals. This is when you see that the goals you once thought unachievable suddenly seemed possible. I have set myself a target of riding 10,000 KM in 2021 and I am hopeful to achieve this even though I am slightly behind on the progress.

?3.??Invest time (& some money!) to support your passion: Once you are clear on pursuing something, investment of time for learning and training and money for the right gears are essential to get the optimal results. For me, YouTube is an essential source of learning on a variety of topics like changing tubes, degreasing bike, nutrition during rides etc. I also plan regular training rides in the evening. Once I was clear that I am pursuing cycling as a serious hobby, I had to let the purse strings loose by investing in a good bike and good quality gears to make the ride as comfortable as possible. It’s ok to be obsessed to a certain extent but learn to draw the boundaries.

?4.??Integrate it into your work-life: Key to successfully pursuing the passion is to plan your activities diligently and integrate it with the business and personal calendar. Every week, I plan the training rides based on my business and personal engagements. I ensure that I can plan at least two training rides during the weekdays.

?5.??Pay it forward: Return the support you have received from others in pursuing your passion by taking new proteges under your wings to pay it forward. I have introduced, or may be persuaded would be the right word, several of my friends into cycling. I share my approach and the results I achieved with my friends and if they are interested, I take them for rides along with me. It’s always heartening to see them becoming avid cycling fans and share the same level of passion if not more. I also brought many of them to join our long-distance cycling group. Like me, all of them thought that doing a 110 KM RTI with an average speed of 27 KMPH is impossible, and they all do it now with ease. I follow avid cyclists on Strava to get inspired and learn about new routes. I also try to motivate them by engaging with kudos and comments and most of them reciprocate as well which acts as a motivation for me.

6. Align with purpose: Try to align your passion with a bigger purpose. Regular cycling has proven to have reduced stress, anxiety and depression and thereby contributing directly to mental health. SAP has decided to celebrate April 27th as Global Mental Health Day and we have decided to launch a cycling challenge for employees in Singapore to ride 10,000 KM over a 10 day period and raise SGD 10,000 for Singapore Association for Mental Health. This event helped to raise the awareness of mental health and increased the membership and activities of the cycling club.

?7.??Support of family: The last and most important thing is family’s understanding and support for all the investments in time and money. When I started, I would be taking a long time on the road and would be completely exhausted by the time I get back. Fortunately, my wife was able to see how positively this new passion is impacting me and she has been whole heartedly supporting me to pursue this further. My older son who is attending university in the UK shares the same passion, and he is an avid cyclist too. Whenever he is in town, we go for a father-son ride, and it is a great bonding experience as well. My younger one might join our club too; he is just experimenting now.

?The pandemic has now become endemic and pursuing your passion can help you to become more resilient and navigate the associated uncertainties of living with Covid. What’s your passion and how do you plan to pursue it?

If you like to read more about the benefits of cycling please check out https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/cycling-health-benefits