Coach Carter

I've just got back from spending 3 days in the New Forest: spending some quality time with "Mobie" in his intended use: as a motorhome - have to say, the 'mobile lab' got some curious looks as I drove into the campsite on Saturday morning! The 3 days were more of a 'retreat' than a 'break' as the intention was always to take some time out in order to reflect on my current goals - personal and business. Where better to 'sharpen my saw' than in the New Forest?

I've always been good at 'goal setting' - even before I started a career in sport, I knew what I wanted and prioritised my life according to the achievements I wished to make. I am able to see the resources I need, the skills to develop, and the people to gather around me in support of my aims. I'm fortunate that in the main, things have gone to plan. Certainly, my life in sport and training in academia have helped me when it came to setting up the PBscience cycle coaching business.

However, this 3 day period shone a light on something I didn't expect - I have wondered off my chosen path a bit. As I reflected on the goals I set in January 2010, I could see that indeed, those same goals, wishes, desires were still the most relevant to my intentions today. No bad thing. What I hadn't anticipated was that my current rating of how I was shaping up was down on my expectation. It helped me understand why I had felt under stress recently - my life has not been lived according to my goals, or more fundamentally, my core beliefs. The time out (from email, internet and all things technology - well, I took my iPod!) has allowed me to re-gather and re-start with a very positive motivation. It reminded me how easy it is to let your eye move off the ball. I know exactly why I have let it happen - I have been distracted by letting others' goals take priority.

This is a really fine balance for a coach: obviously, it is my role to help steer people to their goal events: to provide the best training, to evaluate their progress, and to tweak things as plans change, or we assess development of strength / weaknesses. This is the core of my job, and I value that. However, what I had started to do was engage in day to day activity and lose sight of the overall picture. The past 8 weeks have felt the same to me: I had got myself into a bit of a rut, blunted my saw. Each day, each week, has felt the same - because I had entered what is known as 'fire fighting' activity. The little non-important tasks have been ticked off; leaving the bigger ones for another day. Whilst I am a creature of routine, I have been a slave to it, rather than the master of it. My Sunday morning in Mobie allowed me to get creative in how I cope with this. Coming back to Stephen Covey's 'sharpening the saw' concept, I have re-prioritised my own personal and professional development: without that time, I will stagnate as a coach and let my riders down. I'm back on track now!

There were some downsides to the 3 days - firstly the weather wasn't great, which curtailed some of the cycling I had intended to do whilst away: I've had the opportunity to cycle around the roads of the New Forest with the a3crg team a couple of years back. What with Mobie being kept on site, the bike was the best way to get around - but a very wet Sunday meant a very wet ride - thankfully, a stop in Costa Coffee in Lymington cheered me up. Secondly, I find it hard to detach from how my riders are doing at the races....thankfully, most of them dropped me a quick text, and I have to confess to checking my email a couple of times (no, not a Wifi enabled camp site, but a Smartphone to the rescue!). Also, in my line of work, 3 days out of the office is 3 days of workload to catch up on. No-way would I let 3 days of training files slip away from my gaze...so, Tuesday has been a busy catch up day.

My saw sharpening isn't over for this week just yet - later this week, I have put aside some time to reflect on the first 6 months of PBscience - a process I started a couple of weeks back. From the recent review I did, I am now hoping to develop a plan for where the business is headed in the 12 months to come. Dan and I have a meeting lined up for next Monday, and I'm excited to get our teeth into 'Phase II'!

The funniest thing happened to me whilst writing the blog post this week....a tree surgeon just came to my door to ask me to move Mobie, parked up in the road behind my flat: seems they are tree felling and didn't want to scratch him: how coincidental is that?