I have a dream......with a few small adjustments!

How did Team GB’s cycling teams manage to do so well this summer in the Paralympics, Olympics and the Tour de France? We have seen outstanding efforts and more gold medals than any other country in cycling this year. Where did it all start? Someone had a vision, the velodrome was built in Manchester for the commonwealth games in 2002 which gave the track cyclists somewhere to practice and a chance to show how good they are. The road team was put together and sponsorship found and TeamSky was formed. The coach said that within five years we will win the Tour de France. People thought that he was mad! No English man had ever won the Tour de France. But they had a goal and the rest is history.

So what can us mere mortals learn from this. These fantastic achievements happened because one man had a dream and by believing in that goal and working toward it without giving up he was able to achieve great things. Yes It has been hard work, but it has been done. When asked how this was achieved Team GB’s cycling team director of performance Dave Brailsford said “the aggregation of marginal gains” that is if we make small adjustments in many area’s it will make a huge difference to overall progression. Training schedules must have been punishing, adjustments were made to the bike specifications, helmets were tweaked, clothing streamlined. But most importantly how the athletes think about what they can achieve in their heads was addressed. Small changes were made that made a big difference to the overall performance of the team. 

We too may have a dream of something that we want to achieve and work towards no matter how big or how small. If we want to achieve something by setting ourselves clear goals and working on achieving something small toward that goal every day is a step in the right direction. If we believe in our goal and don’t give up, we too will achieve our dreams. September is a good time of the year to review goals that may have been set at the beginning of the year. Returning from summer holidays and the beginning of the new school year is often a time to reflect on our achievements and perhaps time to make our own small adjustments.