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Hi Reader,

Three weeks ago, I started my MBA internship at the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce.

(And no, before you ask, the electric bike still hasn't happened 😅)

The office is about 7 km from home, so I figured… time to dust off the old bicycle. Pedal power straight from the legs. How hard could it be?

Well… let me paint the picture.

Out of 24 gears, I could only use about 1/3 of them.

And in case you've never been here, Nanaimo is not flat. I needed every single one of those gears.

40 minutes later, I arrived at the office. Sweaty. Sticky. And let's just say… my bum had some things to say about the whole experience 😅

That was not fun.

So I made an appointment at the bike shop. Luckily, they knew exactly what they were doing.

I picked it up that same evening, and oh my… what a difference.

It reminded me of that saying, you know the one: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I'll spend the first four sharpening the axe."

Sometimes we push through with the wrong gear.

We tell ourselves we're being scrappy. Resourceful. Disciplined. We grind it out with what we have and hope willpower will fill the gap.

But the truth is…

Your gear matters.

Whether it's a literal bicycle, the software you're using, the team around you, or your own energy levels, what you build shapes how far you can go and how good you feel when you get there.

These days, my commute is 26 minutes. I know the route. I know exactly which gear I need for each hill. I even know how the traffic lights are synced, so I roll through them without stopping (yes, I'm officially that cyclist now 🤓).

I'm getting used to cycling again. Getting my fitness back too.

And it all started with one simple decision: Fix the gear first. Then go.

Sometimes you just need to switch gears (pun absolutely intended) to get where you actually want to go.

Chat next week,

Peggy 🌿
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P.S. Where in your life are you grinding through with broken gear? What would change if you stopped first to sharpen the axe?

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