Note: If you want to see all the lessons, click on the category: Making Big Things Happen

Let’s talk about hair.  I am not a girly-girl, but I do like to look nice when I present in front of hundreds of people (what is it about me??).  And so, I asked my hairstylist to give me a haircut that could go from bike ride to presentation–no helmet head.  Here’s what it looked like from the back–very sleek!

But then after our practice ride to Holland, my hair looked like this!



Ick!  So I went back to my hairstylist to revise my haircut.  Has to be shorter, I said.  So she gave me this haircut.

Not too bad.  But after 30 miles…. Oh dear.  It looks worse!

I can’t really make it any shorter!  I mean, I don’t think bald is an improvement.  Sometimes, you have to revise your thinking.  But usually, revision is a wonderful thing.  Bikes, for example.  If we didn’t revise the bike, mine wouldn’t have 24 speeds!  I need all of them on a big hill.  And if we didn’t revise cars, we’d still be cranking them up to start.

By the way, we revised our route to Holland, Michigan, and cut off 9 miles.  So, don’t be afraid to revise.  It’s often a good idea to cut out the extra words (or the extra hair).  You can tell me what you think when you see me….

Lesson #11: Know Yourself

Note: If you’d like to see all the lessons, click on the category: Making Big Things Happen

It’s hard to accomplish your dream if you don’t have a good sense of your strengths and weaknesses.  What I know after a year of getting ready to go on this bike ride is that I am stronger than I thought!  But I also realize that I am no Tillie.  I am a story writer and teller, not an astonishing athlete.  You don’t have to be a super athlete to ride your bike to Chicago, but you do have to be in a certain kind of shape. I’ve come to accept that I don’t have as much control over that as I’d like to.  I’d like to be able to say for sure I will make it on ‘my own two wheels,’ but I have come to accept that getting there is more important than getting there by bike.

My stubbornness in insisting I do this all on my bike has caused me a lot of stress.  I have to accept that I like to have more control than a project like this is going to allow me.  And I have to learn to let go a little.  If I achieve my end goal—making a book come alive for you—then I will be content, whether I ride the whole ride or not.

I may look like Tillie, but I'll never ride like her. There is only one Tillie!