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Unless you’re a world champion, you’ll always encounter people who are fitter, faster, slimmer, stronger, smarter or sexier than you. Which is why it’s time to stop comparing yourself to everybody else and work on your own self-esteem.

STAGE PROFILE
This is a gentle introduction to TMC mind training, helping you begin to build your self-expertise.

— Learn how to stop your critical mental voice obsessing over negative comparisons
— Understand when your defence mechanisms are helpful – and when they’re no
— Enjoy the significant benefits of improved self-esteem

Willpower is what you call on to make you do something you don’t want to do. The more you don’t want to do something, the more willpower you need. It can get you through just about anything… until, of course, it doesn’t. Let’s find out why.

STAGE PROFILE
You’ll get to know yourself better in these modules – and perhaps find a few surprises.

— We all have a persuasive inner voice that offers lovely alternatives. Meet yours
— Willpower is powerful but it has an Achilles heel – doubt
— Discover the four essential weapons for bolstering your willpower

Unless you’re a world champion, you’ll always encounter people who are fitter, faster, slimmer, stronger, smarter or sexier than you. Which is why it’s time to stop comparing yourself to everybody else and work on your own self-esteem.

STAGE PROFILE
This is a gentle introduction to TMC mind training, helping you begin to build your self-expertise.

— Learn how to stop your critical mental voice obsessing over negative comparisons
— Understand when your defence mechanisms are helpful – and when they’re no
— Enjoy the significant benefits of improved self-esteem

Willpower is what you call on to make you do something you don’t want to do. The more you don’t want to do something, the more willpower you need. It can get you through just about anything… until, of course, it doesn’t. Let’s find out why.

STAGE PROFILE
You’ll get to know yourself better in these modules – and perhaps find a few surprises.

— We all have a persuasive inner voice that offers lovely alternatives. Meet yours
— Willpower is powerful but it has an Achilles heel – doubt
— Discover the four essential weapons for bolstering your willpower

Discover which kind of cyclist you are under the Lycra, er, skin. Obviously you love riding your bike, but you love it even more when you’re riding for a reason. So what motivates you more – a happy day in the saddle, or stunning stats?

STAGE PROFILE

Two modules this week, plus a Facebook Live event with your fellow Mental Cyclists sharing this journey.

• Professional athletes don’t cycle for fun. But you can, and you should
• Understand the problems with performance goals, and why they can make you miserable
• A chance to chat with fellow Mental Cyclists sharing this journey

We take the mind training up a gear this week by coming face to face with your Cruel Critic. We all have one. It’s the voice inside your head that assures you, with unrelenting conviction, that you’re crap. Too slow, too weak, too fat, too unfit, too whatever…

STAGE PROFILE

You wouldn’t this abuse from a friend – and you don’t have to take it from yourself. Get deep inside your own thoughts, and take back control.

• Understand how, when and why your Cruel Critic tried to bring you down
• Recognise your personal triggers for negative self-talk – and how this affects you
• Overcome your Cruel Critic with affirmations, mantras, and mindfulness

Stress in cycling sucks. It makes you tense and miserable, and sucks the joy out of everything. But here’s the secret. Cycling doesn’t need to be stressful. The trick is understanding why you suffer stress – and knowing what to do about it.

STAGE PROFILE

Is it really possible to ride without stress? Yes. This week, we find out how. This will change your rides forever.

• Understand why ‘stress’ isn’t the problem. It’s our emotional reaction to stress-inducing situations that causes problems – if we let it
• Retrain your brain to control the way you react to potential stressors.
• Learn to avoid thinking in terms of good and bad, success and failure, triumph and disaster

A challenge is something you can overcome, like training a wayward puppy not to pee o the floor. A threat is something you probably can’t, like persuading a hungry bear to return your chicken supper. It’s really important not to confuse the two.

STAGE PROFILE

This week, we explore the theory and, more importantly, practical implications of Challenge and Threat States. Learn how to find the perfect cycling zone on the right side of the equation.

• Positive thinking is an ally that can push you forwards – so long as it’s not just wishful thinking
• Why achievement goals are much more motivating than avoidance goals
• Pushing beyond your comfort zone improves mental and physical performance – so long as the challenge is just right for you

If your mind is somewhere else when you ride – if it’s focused on the destination, or a time target, or anything else other than what’s happening right now – then you won’t have a meaningful and enjoyable experience. But when you ride mindfully, every ride can be amazing.

STAGE PROFILE
his week, we explore what it means to ride in a flow state. It’s not something you can force but you can certainly enable the conditions that make it more likely. And then everything changes.

• Understand why arbitrary targets can suck the joy out of everything
• Lose your attachment to outcomes
• Find the magical balance between the right level of challenge and your ability to do it

Mental Cycling is about getting to know yourself better. A really powerful way to do that is by analysing your rides – what happened, how did you feel, what did you learn, what can you change, and so on. In this stage, you’ll write a reflective ride report and share it with a buddy in the group.

STAGE PROFILE

We’ll do this as a group activity. You’ll work with an actual ride you do this week, if possible, or else think back to an earlier ride.

• Learn how to write a structured ride report
• Submit your report to the group for peer review
• Review a buddy’s ride report and share your learnings