PLAN 8 Update

Plan 8 is well and truly underway. This is without a doubt one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The 8 tricks I originally set out for myself were actually a little easier than this. Before leaving Australia, I looked at that list and thought, I’m almost certain I can learn all these tricks. And that was an issue. I adjusted the list and set the goal just outside of what I thought I could pull off, leaving room to surprise myself. Well, hasn’t that come back to bite me.

I’m about a month and a half into the Sweden move and I’ve learnt 2 tricks, with 1 more that is very close. That doesn’t leave much room for error and it’s certainly putting the pressure on me. I feel like I’m in a reoccurring dream. home, shops, Dome, home, shops, Dome. Maybe I’m going insane. But I didn’t come to Sweden to stay comfortable. I came here to level up my riding and give myself the tools to achieve some very big goals next season.

The last two weeks learning 720s have been rough. I haven’t really been excited for the sessions, because I knew that every ride meant signing myself up for a big mental battle. This one is particularly difficult because of a bad habit that throws the spin way off. And at any point, that habit can override and make me crash. Between that pressure and the timeline I’ve set for myself, this one is really getting to me.

That pressure isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It replicates some of the competition environment where I’ll need to land these tricks on unfamiliar courses within just a few days. And that kind of pressure is almost impossible to replicate in training. It’s one of the reasons I put the trick list out there for the world to see. Social accountability. Without it, it’s easy to get wrapped up in tricks that won’t serve me as a competition rider. The accountability also means I’m committed to the trick, and I can’t talk myself out of it. It ties into the Making Discipline Easy blog I released a few weeks ago. I’ve set up a system that puts less weight on willpower to make the right decisions every ride. Instead, I’ve put that weight on my ego, and the thought of failing this plan, with the public embarrassment that comes along for the ride.

Plan 8 was never about making things easy. It was about stretching the limits of what I thought was possible. Right now it feels heavy, repetitive, and at times overwhelming, but that’s exactly the point. If I can stay in the fight here, when it’s just me against the trick, I’ll be ready when it matters most. On contest day, with everything on the line and no room to hide.

See ya next week...