What a Spin Bike Taught Me About Focus and Authenticity

I’m on a two-day gym streak and I already feel like I want to sign up for an Iron Man. But I won’t because something tells me I’m being a bit too premature.

Picture me this morning, all geared up to perform a DIY high intensity workout on the Spin Bike. I’ve got my water bottle filled to the max and my sweat towel wrapped around my neck. I am ready.

Ready to go!

I head into gym and the bike I use happens to be slap bang in the middle so everyone can see me. It’s January so the room is full to the brim.

I sit down on the bike as I usually do. My routine is to set the bike up, find a ‘Power Cycling Mix’ on Spotify, turn my headphones up as high as they’ll go, hit play and close my eyes as I get going.

The man who has no imagination, has no wings - Muhammad Ali

For me, on that bike with my eyes closed, I am transported mentally to either a gym class somewhere in the USA, where your buddies next to you are all giving high fives when you’ve lost a gallon of sweat, or I’m cycling along a lake road with an Olympics cycling team, using their slipstream to build speed.

I know, I know, my imagination is wild.

This helps me to get into the zone where I can push myself beyond belief, to build strength.

I also imagine I’m dancing to my music on the bike. Not coordinated hands-in-the-air Britney style, more conservative, through my rhythm.

But this morning was different…and it sucked, big time.

As I closed my eyes, with the gym being so packed, for some reason I couldn’t shake this feeling of people watching and judging me.

I felt like I couldn’t be myself and I ended up being all over the place with my thoughts.

Here’s me with all of my thoughts. Totally bananas!

I couldn’t focus on getting my dance moves - my ‘thing’ to keep me focused - in line with the music. I couldn’t picture myself giving thumbs up to Sir Chris Hoy as I rode past.

I was a mess and as a result, my workout, and body, suffered massively. It sent me way off track and I left feeling very messy mentally.

It made me realize the importance of focus and authenticity in life.

The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus - Bruce Lee

At work we need focus. It’s what helps to drive us and our company forward and it’s great for aligning co-workers to all move in one direction; the right one.

We also need to be authentic. Forget what the Tech industry is saying. The world cannot run on robots, we need real people, with unique perspectives and unique little quirks to keep this planet interesting. This enables us to think outside of the box, to keep innovating and to foster a sense of fun and camaraderie.

The authentic self is the soul made visible - Sarah Ban Breathnach

When you’re busy comparing yourself to your co-workers, or get distracted with emails or Microsoft Teams messages about what Wendy got up to over the weekend, you cannot be at your best.

So, what was my biggest learning?

On that bike I realized the importance of simply acknowledging your thoughts and letting them pass by.

If you can do this, you allow yourself to remain focused on what matters to you and to be yourself, always.

See you soon,

Mashed Banana x

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