Did you know cycling is a team sport? Up until a few years ago, I didn’t. Because there is usually only one winner, I always assumed that cycling was just like running—but with bikes. 

Then one day, while Tony was watching the Tour De France, I came into the living room to see something that confused me. At that moment, the news coverage was showing footage of a group of riders traversing a narrow, winding road. They were all wearing the same jersey, and it looked like they were working together. 

“Why are they all wearing the same jersey? Do they have the same sponsor?” I asked Tony.

“They’re on the same team.”

“Why are they all sticking together like that?” I asked, still not fully understanding.

It was at that point, Tony went on to explain how cycling works. That usually a team picks their strongest rider—the person they want to win—and then form a strategy to enable that person to get to the finish line before anyone else. The other riders on the team are there to ride in front, setting the pace. They also provide protection (known as drafting) from the wind, enabling their star rider to ride faster and longer. 

When people like Chris Froome wins a race, they share the prize money with their team, because they couldn’t have won without them. In other words, for cyclists, it’s not just strength and talent that wins the race. It is also about having a team around you. A team that helps you set a healthy pace, and even takes some of the impact of what is pushing you backwards (in this case, the wind). 

After Tony explained this, I thought what a cool picture for life. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we all had a team like that? If we all had people who helped to soften the blows that threaten to knock us down? People who held us accountable to live a healthy pace so we don’t burn out before the end of the race. Not only that, but what if we could be that for someone else?

Sadly though, I think there are few of us who actually have these kinds of teams in our lives. And perhaps, there are even more of us who have teams who do the opposite of what their supposed to. Many of us have people in our lives who we love—and who love us—only, rather than empowering each other to become all that we’re meant to, instead we hold each other back. We enable each other’s bad behaviors. Or worse, we find ourselves on everybody else’s team, and yet no one shows up for our races. 

When this happens, it is hard for us to find a sustainable pace. Our lives feel hectic. We swing back and forth between doing all the things and crashing in front of Netflix because we have nothing left. Because we’ve allowed the wrong people (or things) to set the pace for our lives, we feel constantly behind, and often exhausted. And if we don’t make a team change soon, there’s a good chance we won’t finish our race the way we want to. 

As I have shared before, when I was twenty-six I found myself in the hospital. I was so sick because I had been living an unlivable pace. Not only that, but what I didn’t fully realize is I hadn’t formed a healthy team of people around me. It took a day in the ER to wake up to the fact that something had to change. 

Only, I wish I could tell you making changes and finding a new team has been easy. In fact it has been really hard. It’s involved changing the dynamics of some of my relationships so that the people who used to speak into my life, aren’t who I go to for wisdom anymore. And as I began to change, some friendships fell apart. More than anything though, I had to learn what a health pace was for myself. 

Where I used to let other people’s expectations or needs determine my schedule, I’ve had to learn to create healthy boundaries. And I’ve discovered the paradox that I have more to give when I am not always giving. 

Finding a sustainable pace for your life, and finding a team that empowers you to win your race, is hard. At times, we find ourselves on the road alone. But I am finding that some days, we need to ride alone to learn our pace. Others, it is better to have a small committed team of a few, than a large team that doesn’t show up for us when we need them. 

Do you need to find a your pace? 

Who is on your team? And do you need to make some changes? 

 

Are you in the midst of making a hard decision? Contemplating a big life change? If so, you may be interested in my FREE Making Changes Checklist that I give to all my email friends. Want your free copy?  subscribe here.