One of the things I love most in life is mountain biking. I'm an okay mountain biker, not the best, and not the worst. Some days, I just cruise and have a good time. Most days, I push myself to progress in some way. I have no aspirations of becoming a pro mountain biker or even placing in local races. Participating in a race here and there is already exciting and a great privilege. I push myself though because I love the feeling of accomplishment and the pride in being able to do something I couldn't do the day, week, or year before. Part of happiness is setting challenging goals and going for them. In mountain biking, we say send it. Sending it means going for it, whether or not you succeed or fail. It means riding that steep section of rock or going for the drop you couldn't do last season. I think send it really comes from the rock climbing world, but it is a pretty common mountain biking thing at this point. Sending it easily translates to life too. When people send it on the trail, they learn how to send it in life. A lot of people would look at a steep and chunky rock waterfall, assess that they can't do it, walk their bike, and continue the ride. The only way to get better at those is to attempt it, over and over again. You try once, see where you get stuck, walk your bike back up the trail, and try, try again. Of course, I say this all with calculated risk in mind. Even people who send it don't do it blindly. You have to start with the small stuff and progress. Anything worth while in life will take some level of just sending it. If you want good relationships, you have to invest, be the best version of you, and take the risk of trusting that person. If you want a great career, you have to study up, read the books, network with the people, and do it whole heartedly. Another way of saying send it in life is to show up whole heartedly. How do you send it in life? 1. Figure out what challenges are worth it to take on. I don't like 14ers, so I'm not going to try to bike one. I love downhill mountain biking and beautiful places, so those challenges are worth the effort. 2. Show up. As in, don't phone it in. Show up with your whole self, ready to put in the effort, and be present. 3. Calculate the risk. If you're not quite there, lay the foundation with challenging yourself on the small stuff, work your way up, and commit to progression. 4. When the moment comes, go all in without worrying about the outcome. You might fail. You might succeed. I accept with mountain biking that I will hurt myself. In life, you will get hurt and not everything will go according to plan. You will also succeed, but only if you take on the challenge.
5. Learn from your mistakes and try again.
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