The image above always takes me back to my first bikepacking event, the 2017 AR700. Here, head hanging low, I soft pedal my way to Canmore where I decided that I would scratch. My mental outlook had been declining throughout the day, and despite advice given to me by Greg Van Tighem while on the trail to sleep on it, the decision had already been made. That was the first and last time I have scratched on a race.

I’ve been thinking a lot about failure lately. Failure is defined as a lack of success or the inability to meet an expectation or to reach a predetermined goal.

We can read too much into failure. Too often, we tie it to our sense of self-worth, self-esteem, and self-acceptance. By preparing ourselves for the what ifs, you’re reframing the effort and giving yourself some breathing room. We also need to look at failures, or set backs, as learning opportunities. If we can learn to extract lessons from our set backs, we can at least claim a small victory and move on.

In this episode I read from a couple of my posts that were inspired by a couple of voice intros that were sent to me. I always feel so much gratitude when I receive voice messages from listeners. The engagement inspires me. Not only that, it connects me to you, the listener. I have mentioned on the podcast many times now that, despite this feeling like a one way relationship, me talking to you, it’s more than that. Engagement makes this humble project very meaningful to me and drives me to continue to connect with you. Don’t be shy! It doesn’t have to be profound, just tell me what you’re up to. Maybe you want to get something off your chest, in which case you may want to be anonymous. Just say so. So, whip out your device, record me something and DM it or email me.

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