Make your goal a dream

Motivation can stem from a variety of sources, but the type of goal needs to be something that stands out, says Dave Readle, performance psychologist and former cyclist with the Great Britain Cycling Team.

“Set your sights on a goal that makes you say, ‘wow’,” he explains. “It can be a race win, a long sportive challenge or simply achieving a local climb.

“The important thing is it needs to be important to you and give you a sense of achievement when you cross the finish line.”

Keep it clear and present

Goals can be easily pushed aside and forgotten about in the business of everyday life. However, Readle recommends displaying a symbolic image of your goal in plain sight so that you’re reminded regularly of what it is you’re striving towards.

“Having a picture of your ultimate goal somewhere often-visited, like your kitchen cupboard or bedroom will ensure that you can’t hide from it. It’ll help align your focus on what it is you’re trying to achieve.”

Also, just as variety and renewal of training methods helps keep your body guessing and adapting, consider renewing the image when a particularly powerful one crops up to keep your mind focused.

Track and display your progress

“Make graphs and charts that display your progress in some form, so that you can easily visualise how you’re getting on,” says Readle. “This works particularly well for goals based on numbers, like a time target for a 10-mile time trial.

“Likewise, rewarding yourself with a school-style smiley face sticker chart when you tick of a marker might also work if your goal is less black and white.

– How to create and use an effective training diary –

“Either way, you can see yourself making gains and notice trends while charting your progress, helping you to keep faith on your training schedule, or recognise when it’s time to shake things up if progress stagnates.”

Keep it social

Training on your own can be challenging, not least because there’s nothing to take your mind off the task you’ve set yourself. Even Olympic athletes train in groups, so why not you?

“The social aspect of training works because it means you can all support each other through your journey, having empathy, someone to talk to on same level who can understand what you’re going through,” claims Readle, who sees this kind of environment regularly with British Cycling.

“The other side of that is accountability – if you arrange to meet up for a ride, you’re less likely to miss it or not bother. Also, you’ll push each other with each other’s strengths and weaknesses – chasing your climber friends on the hills, or working hard to rotate through on the flat.”

Look outwards, not inwards

While associating physical exertion with progress is important to keeping you motivated to put yourself into difficulty, that awareness needs to be tempered with a certain level of dissociation from internal feelings.

As Lambdon explains: “Keeping your mind occupied away from the difficulty of the current training session will help you get through it. That could mean looking at the scenery, or chatting with training partners, or thinking about something else off the bike.”

Certain training weeks and sessions can be hard, so being able to take your mind off the difficulty, pain and – dare we say it – potential boredom of practicing a skill you don’t like normally doing is a key tool for any athlete, cyclists included.

Develop a ‘challenge state’

As Lambdon explains, a ‘challenge state’ is a state of mind where an athlete is ready and able to rise to a challenging situation. The trick, however, is developing this approach in training.

“Your goal should be to feel as though any situation that might reasonably present itself is within your grasp to meet. If you don’t develop this feeling, it can result in demotivation. A good example is when a rider crashes, and struggles to get motivated to get back on the bike,” he says.

“It’s best, therefore, to focus on the variables that you can control, rather than the things you can’t. This will help you develop the confidence borne of self-control as you aim towards your goal.”

“Also, it’s fine to diversify for a while too; it can be in cycling, or elsewhere for a while, while you refresh.”