I don’t know what the cause is, but lately I’ve been hearing from people I talk to and commentators here on ye olde interwebs, that they’d love to do something–be that compete in a certain mountain bike race, travel somewhere, or achieve some other goal–but they just can’t do it.
Personally, I think that’s BS. I’m a firm believer in the ability of human beings to achieve and accomplish just about anything that they set their minds to. The key is deciding what exactly it is that they want, and how bad they actually want it.

What DO you want?
Sometimes first deciding what it is you want can be the hardest feat of all to overcome. So often we can find ourselves stuck in an apathetic mode where we don’t really have a zeal or a zest to do… well, just about anything. Instead, we go to work, do our jobs, go home, mow the grass, feed the kids, and spend the weekend working on the house, because we feel like we have to. We’re stuck, and we feel like we don’t have any choices.
Snap out of it!
There’s always a choice! I hereby officially give you permission to dream big, to ponder what it is you want to accomplish in your life, where you want to go, and what you want to do.

Do you want to ride a dirty century? Do you want to travel to an epic mountain bike destination that you’ve never visited? Do you want to take up bikepacking?
If you don’t already have a lofty goal or dream stuck in your craw, step one is to sit down and start brainstorming exactly what it is you want to do with your life.
Sometimes we just don’t want it bad enough.
Oftentimes, if we’re actually honest with ourselves, we might really like the idea of doing something or accomplishing some goal. But when it actually comes to accomplishing that goal, it turns out that we just don’t want it bad enough to put ourselves through the pain and the exertion that accomplishing that endeavor requires.
Speaking from my own life, in the past I’ve thought that I wanted to be a professional skier–this was my childhood dream. And while I was extremely talented at downhill skiing, I realized that I didn’t want it bad enough to put my life in danger every time I clicked into my bindings.
Later, I thought that I wanted to be a professional mountain guide. But after dabbling in guiding, I realized that I didn’t want it bad enough to live the rest of my life below the poverty line.
At times I thought that maybe I’d want to compete in the world of mountain biking, but then I realized that I didn’t want it bad enough to train to the level that’d be required of me to attain those speeds.
In your own life, think about what dreams and ambitions you’ve had in the past–be it mountain bike related or otherwise–that you never attained. And ask yourself: did you really want that thing?
When you really want it–and bad.
If you well and truly want to accomplish something, don’t tell me you can’t do it. Instead, look deep into your soul, and ask yourself: how bad do you want it–really? And if you find that you really do want it–and bad–then you better HTFU and get ready to suffer!
One goal that I truly wanted to achieve was completing a dirty century. I really wanted it! I wanted it so badly that I sacrificed every Saturday for half a year to train for hours and hours. I rode my road bike in the 45-degree winter rain, week in and week out. I spent money on the components and products I needed to complete my goal. I drove two hours into Atlanta, on two different occasions, for a professional bike fit, to help me attain my goal.
I wanted it so bad that even after DNFing a 100-mile race, I dusted myself off, let my legs recover, and then successfully completed the feat on my own.

This past year, I’ve had to ask myself, as I dealt with two separate injuries: how bad did I want to get well again… really? You might think the answer to that question is obvious, but when you’re faced with six months of physical therapy, associated doctors bills, and the cost of parts to make your bike work for your broken down body, sometimes the answer isn’t so easy. I’ve had to tell myself that yes, I want this–and badly. I had to want it to the point where I’d push my body week in and week out, to push through the pain, to train, to work hard, and to focus on recovering.
As I think about 2016, I have some really lofty goals that I want to accomplish on my mountain bike, and I know that my fitness is nowhere near where I want it to be. That means that as we dive into a cold, dark winter, I am having to dig deep to find the resolve to train, to log miles week in and week out–even in below freezing temps in the snow, aboard the fat bike. I’ll be honest: sometimes I just don’t want to do it. I’m feeling discouraged that winter has barely started, and we have at least four more months–if not more–of this drudgery. But if I want to set myself up for success, if I really do want to accomplish those goals in the next year, now is the time to ask myself before every ride: “How bad do I want it?” And to answer back, “Yes, I WANT THIS!!!”

What about you?
What goals do you have for the next year? If you don’t know yet, go back up to step one and try writing some ideas down. And then think long and hard: how bad do you want it… really?
If you decide that you want it badly enough, don’t let anything stand in your way! Pedal, ride, train, persevere. Push yourself until you think you can’t go any further, and then go just a little more.
If you really want it, I have faith that you can accomplish it.
Just don’t tell me at the end of the year that you couldn’t achieve it, because I’ll retort right back: “you just didn’t want it bad enough.”
Julian Death March 86 mile course!
DO IT!
Awesome article! I have found myself falling into the “I can’t do it” trap, so thanks for calling me out! I really want to increase my endurance and mental fortitude to do some long rides this year, 100 miles on my mountain bike included. I also want to get more heavily into bikepacking and make it a point to go out on little overnight microadventures on a regular basis. It’s so easy to make excuses like “I don’t have time,” but it’s just a matter of having gear more accessible and ready to go to head out into the woods. Here’s to a great 2016 of achieving our goals! 🙂
I’m so excited to see what you get up to in 2016 Helena! Heck, your 2015 was IMPRESSIVE!! I’m sure you have tons of cool adventures up your sleeve!
Great article Greg. My wife and I are FINALLY back in Mongolia after a longer than planned stay in the US this year. I haven’t yet given consideration for next year in terms of specific goals, but I’ll be here in Mongolia, so I know that I have a ton of exploring to do in the little mountains surrounding Ulaanbaatar. So there will be some goal related to exploring local areas and trying to find good trails and rides … … and of course documenting them on the singletracks.com database. =) And like Helena, I want to do some bikepacking throughout the year. Finally, some of my Mongolian friends in our organization are already talking about doing one epic trip, circumnavigating a Mongolian great lake called Hovsgol Lake. It is one of the 17 ancient lakes of the world … absolutely beautiful and mostly very remote. If we try to ride the whole thing, that would be about 360km on the bikes. If we ride and kayak (kayak the extreme remote section with no trails), then it would be about 260km on the bikes and a 100km in the kayaks. We would do it over several days and slow it down. None of us are endurance riders, and we would want to enjoy the area and the experience together.
Man those sound like some awesome adventures mongwolf!! Circumnavigating an ancient lake?! How awesome is that!!
Last year my goal was to ride trails in every state along a Florida to Oregon road trip. Made it to Utah before my AARP approved body gave out. Setting too tough a travel schedule coupled with truck camping or staying in CHEAP motels caused me to skip Wyoming and Montana. Next year I’d like to plan an Atlantic coast state trip, but will have to include several rest days along the way with accommodation upgrades….maybe a RTT ;-).
Rest days are critical on long trips! Even on some of my longer week + media trips, I have to plan a rest day somewhere in the middle to allow the muscles a chance to recoop. If it’s 4-5 days in a row, that’s one thing, but once you start stretching beyond that, the body needs some time to recover… or you’re going to pay for it 🙂
My goals for 2016 are to do few more 20-30 miles MTB races and my wife and I are planning to do the Kokopelli ride from Fruita to Moab in May. Also loose 15lbs. by April. Thank you Greg for the article.
Some call it a bucket list. Well, I have accomplished a lot of that. I still have goals but my training is more fun than ever. I love riding slow and I love riding fast and any speed in between. I always wanted to ride the Cohutta Death March on my SS, solo. Did that last year and it was great. I have some more things to accomplish on a bike, some will be races, and some will be just me and the goal. 🙂 Also want to help a very good friend accomplish two goals in 2016.
Great article. I read a book recently which was aptly called “How bad do you want it” by Matt Fitzgerald that echos a lot of the same sentiment while also providing specific examples. Great read for any endurance athlete.