I am currently working to prepare for battle. If you’ve been following me this year, you know that I have jumped into a new cycling sport (to me) and am racing the US Cyclocross National Championships that are being held in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky this week. My family has all been racing this sport for years, but never me, until I began pushing and encouraging all of you to step outside of your comfort zone and felt I should put my bike where my mouth is.

I will be racing in the Women 55-59 age category Friday, with one last race before then – our state cyclocross championships. My last race was two weeks before Thanksgiving and I’ve been sick since then, so all the excuses have stacked up for to even make it to nationals, but I am bleeding through the eyeballs to get to that start line. I am working hard to do certain things to put myself in position to be in position. Here are four of them.

Put In The Reps & Sets As You Prepare For Battle

This is a statement that Wednesday’s guest Michael Seiler said in our mindset training. We were talking about imposter syndrome and how to overcome it. He says the best way to turn the volume on imposter syndrome is to just do the work. This is my first year racing this sport, whereas many of the other women have been racing for years. That could make me quit or I could just do the work to be the best prepared that I can when I hit that start line.

The same is true for any challenge you are looking at tackling – a new fitness routine, a new nutrition regime, etc. Do the work before you start. Research different workouts, start doing some light mobility exercises to prep your body, collect recipes for new menus, keep a food journal to see where you can make the easiest changes and swaps. Put in those Reps & Sets.

Don’t Go Into The Event Blind

Race Day Prep or the first day of your new challenge shouldn’t be taken lightly. If you are starting a new way of eating, make sure your cabinets are clear of no-no foods and have your grocery shopping done and ready. Starting a new workout program first thing in the morning? Lay out your clothes the night before and have all of your things packed to go to the gym.

For me and for those that have a big event ahead, prepare for battle by knowing who your competition is, be familiar with what your pre-race warmup will be, write out a checklist of items to take to the event so that you don’t forget anything. Yeah, nothing worse than showing up without your shoes or your helmet. Pre-race nerves are real.

Prepare For Battle With A Realistic Goal

Of course everyone wants to win when they prepare for battle, but there will be many more non-1st place finishers in any race, than winners. Anything can happen in a race or in any high stakes event, but always have a realistic goal in mind as well. Starting and FINISHING this race are going to be real wins for me. But finishing top 5 would be a dream and is totally possible, so I will focus on that.

What about your fitness journey or new nutrition plan? The goal of running a marathon or losing 100 pounds may be too lofty to start. Start with something closer to home – working out 5 days a week for a half an hour. Or cutting your carbs in half and reducing your portions and losing 6-8 pounds in the next month. Don’t set yourself up for failure, set yourself up for success.

Make Sure You Know You “Get To”

“Need to” and “Have to” are statements of pressure language and we fill our heads with them. At this time of year and especially into the new year we say, “I need to workout more” or “I have to eat better”. But what do these statements do for you? They put you into an either/or situation. Either you do them or you are a failure. Use “Get to” instead to give yourself your the choice to do the right thing that your body needs. “I get to workout more” and “I get to eat better so that I will feel better”.

For me, as the season has dragged on, I have felt at times that I HAVE TO do this National Championships race because I said I would. I’ve used “have to” to guilt myself into it and that is not the way to go about anything. So I’ve been consciously telling myself that “I get to race at the National Championships” and realize that not everyone can. This will be a memory that I will relive over and over and so I want it to the best possible memory that I can make it.

Success Follows Good Preparation

It will be hard to fail if you have followed the advice above. Do the work, don’t go into it blind, set a realistic goal, and know that you “get to” make this choice.

Good luck as you prepare for battle to take on all the new things in 2024. If you are going to do them, do them right. But most important, don’t forget to have fun along the way. This one life is going fast, so take advantage of all of your blessings every chance you get, because you CAN.