I love this story from author & entrepreneur Derek Sivers. I’ve applied the lesson to my wellness plan and it’s made my life way more enjoyable.
Derek got into cycling when he lived on the beach in Santa Monica. There’s a great bike path that goes for 25 miles in the sand. He would go onto the bike path, set his timer, put his head down, and push it as hard as he could.
It was always 43 minutes. Over time, he noticed he was starting to feel less psyched about going out on the bike path. Mentally, it would feel like pain and hard work.
He almost stopped riding altogether but instead said, “You know it’s not cool for me to start to associate negative stuff with going on the bike ride. Why don’t I just chill for once. I’m just going to go on the same bike ride. I’m not going to be a complete snail, but I’ll go at half of my normal pace.”
So he went on the same bike ride but was standing up more and looked around more. He looked out and noticed there were dolphins jumping in the ocean.
He had a great time. It was purely pleasant. No red face. No huffing & puffing. He was just cycling.
When he got back to his usual stopping place, he looked at his watch and it said 45 minutes.
“No way. How the hell that could have been 45 minutes as compared to my usual 43!? There’s no way.”
Yes way… 45 minutes.
“All that huffing & puffing and stress for an extra two minutes. It was basically for nothing.”