This is all I have to do today

Identify a hard task. Make a choice to turn off distractions. Give it everything you've got.

If you hang around me for any amount of time, you are sure to learn that I love bikes. (i.e. We're two weeks in, and look at what we're talking about?) Among its myriad benefits, I find the cycling experience to be a fantastic analog to work and life.

In a recently heard podcast conversation between two pro cyclists, Mitch Docker (host) and Luke Durbridge, a single idea struck me.

Luke is a time trial specialist — a discipline within cycling that pits the athlete against the clock. The contestant with the fastest time over a specific distance wins. Time trials are a notoriously grueling and isolated form of pain.

And so, in response to a question about mindset and focus within this sort of race, this was the essence of his answer:

"Alright. This is all I have to do today."

The distance is set. Whatever is next will be waiting at the finish line. The thing to do now is to turn the pedals — one over the other — with as much strength, speed and skill as possible.

I envy athletes whose objectives and efforts are so unambiguous: Ten miles is ten miles and 60 minutes is 60 minutes. But to be honest with myself, the knowledge work that I do doesn't need to be as elusive and amorphous as I often make it out to be.

Identify a hard task — the path from A to B before you. Make a choice to turn off distractions. Give it everything you've got.

The next hour will pass anyway.

—Phil

The full clip is about 5 minutes long, and I've included it below.