I like this playlists of videos because he walks through a week of what training should look like AND is talking specifically about getting better in road cycling / and trying to get competitive. And because it was good to see that training isn’t all about long rides, but also muscle training, hills, drills, repeats, and a rhythm of focusing on all aspects of your ability to ride. (the videos aren’t in the right order in this playlist but I’d recommend watching them all – great strategy and practical helps)

For climbing technique I found this to be a really helpful video, especially the part of keeping relaxed, especially in the upper body during a climb. When I coached track and field I would say the same thing to sprinters – no body gets faster from flexing their neck – you just waste energy and blood flow from the parts of the body moving you forward. As I’ve been trying to get better into climbs every time I relax and focus on pedaling technique and pushing through comfort – I always pick up a 1-4 mph.

Pedaling Technique – who knew it was such a big deal to figure out how to pedal! But boy, if there has been any drill, technique or skill that has seemed to help me is was this short video and the drill you can execute at any time to get back into form. Check it out, and maybe watch it a couple times – very helpful!

Now, this lady is pretty dry and repetitive – but her point is one that makes a lot of sense from an efficiency angle that knowing where your body weight is at, and how to be positioned in such a way as to provide your pedal stroke most possible power at the least effort is a good one. I am still trying to figure this out, but I think the drills are a good idea especially during winter months when getting out on the road isn’t as much of a possibility.

This is a great

This last on is a more intimate look at the training environment of Lance Armstrong. It isn’t glamorous, there aren’t any crowds, it is just Lance and a coach pushing him up a painful, insane climb. Getting good at cycling isn’t about nice long rides with friends where you are talking about the day and always easily in your comfort zone. Getting good is about the time and owning a goal for how good of a cyclist you want to be – which brings with it the fun of gut wrenching climbs, 5 hour rides, nutrition, etc.

Brandon Donaldson and I recently did an interview for a local friend with several questions. One of the questions was just about mobile technology and what opportunities it presents for the church. (If you go to YouTube you can watch the video in HD)

Last week I wrote about perspectives, approaches and methods that don’t make using Social Media worth it. This week I want to layout what I think is a core methodology and sequence that wrings the most value out of Social Media. So, to start on the first core element:

Who are you?

Can you answer that question for yourself, your blog, your organization, your church, your non-profit, your business – right away? Or do you have to think about it? Does your answer start with “It depends…?”

Knowing your identity, who you are and why you are here, is essential for success in social media. This identity is often found in core values, mission statements and vision statements (as an individual do you know your core values?).

Why is identity so important? FOCUS. If you know who you are and your values then you know who your audience is and why it is so important for you to invest in social media to engage with them. You know what the core actions are you want to have influence for them to take (to pray, to buy, to trust, etc.). Your goals, measurables, and more fall into line much more easily when you know who you are. Focus builds momentum and the conviction to see your campaigns through.

Identity is also important because it encourages authenticity and vulnerability (the good side of transparency). When know who you are, you are confident in your strengths and weaknesses. If you are unsure of your identity several things happen and are magnified through social media.

• You are more defensive when critics show up because you’re not sure what strength to defend, so you defend everything, even the stuff you know is a weakness.
• You over state, over hype, and over polish the way you talk about yourself/team/church/organization. This builds excitement but is foggy on the core action that produces a tangible return.
• You try to speak to too many audiences and don’t communicate to any of them well.
• You over invest from bravado and are then underwhelmed with the inevitably poor results.
• Your consistency in content struggles or is weak because you aren’t sure what target conversation you are trying to have (this is most often seen in content with lots of information but very little story).
• You will be very impatient to let the relationships develop in social media because you don’t have the confidence of knowing who you are that is necessary to stick it out.

The danger of not having a personal or organizational identity solidified when entering social media is felt as weaknesses are revealed and you find your relational interaction with people consistently tense and challenged.

Social Media is a catalyst for influence, which is the core function of leadership and communication. But social media isn’t picky on the quality of leadership it spreads. Good or bad, it will feature both. That is why it is such a game changing win to have your identity solidified as you begin engaging in social platforms.

Here is an email I recently sent to help an individual with an existing platform get an idea of how to start engaging through Twitter and Facebook. What would you add or detract?

1. Twitter/Facebook is a “now” or “real-time” network. It is a best practice to batch the time you spend on Twitter. So, scheduling Tweets in advance is highly recommended (some do once a week, some do a quarter at a time.) But having updates that refer that day or week helps people who follow you know you aren’t just broadcasting, but are present in time with them. It’s this mix of schedule and current that will best honor your time and create the most value for people in Twitter.

2. Have Fun! There are a lot of updates from people of influence (especially in your field) that are serious in tone. Serious is good because you passionately believe in your message and voice and the results of what you do – but “all work and no play …” These updates don’t take a lot of words or time, but show a human / relational side that will create tremendous value. The warning is that fun can become a rabbit trail of multiple replies or conversation that can be a real distraction.

3. How to be present with Thousands of People: With the following you already have, and will accumulate, you can still strategically interact personally with people. This is done mainly through only focusing on your Replies & Direct Messages (there are other tips on this as well, but that’s for another time).

• Replies: When you send a reply to someone people who follow you both will see the update in their Home Feed. The value of a Reply depreciates the longer it takes for it to occur, because of the “now” nature of Twitter. Checking who has replied to you once a day for 5 minutes MAX for 1-3 people to respond to will help your responses be timely and yet not a big distraction.
• Direct Messages: You can only send a Direct Message to people who follow you. If you send a direct message to someone you aren’t following just know they won’t be able to respond back to you privately.

4. Social Media Can WASTE a HUGE Amount of Time: Because of your significant influence every time you post someone will respond, ask a question, and it will “stir things up” in a very positive way. The affirmation and relational interaction can become a significant distraction. Beyond the time frames we’ve set up – extra time spent will only drastically decrease the ROI and your ability to create value in the space.

We all have a “them” or “they” a “him” or “her” that we compare ourselves against. There is healthy comparison, where we see someone who has traveled a similar road ahead of us that become “remote mentors”, and inspirations for our journey. But there is also unhealthy comparison. The kind where we emulate without question, where we implement without context, and where we clone vision without leadership or clarification of our unique voice and identity.

For churches it might be comparing themselves with the larger church in town, the North Points, Willow Creeks and Saddlebacks.

For people it might be comparing themselves to the super mom, the popular blogger, the published leader and the keynote speaker.

In social media it might be comparing ourselves to someone else’s online community, affiliate sales, custom Facebook tabs or viral Youtube videos.

• Launching a customized Facebook Page because another church has isn’t not a good reason for you to launch one.
• Doing a podcast because another non-profit is doing one isn’t a good enough reason for you to start one.
• Following everyone who follows you on Twitter because people with a lot of followers seem to do that IS NOT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON to do it yourself.
• Streaming your services online because you see other churches your size doing it IS A TERRIBLE REASON to do it yourself.

It IS a good reason to investigate their investment, return and strategy. And THEN to see if who you are in your passion/vision could benefit from it in part or whole. But often we clone then we get creative trying to squeeze ourselves into another’s strategy.

How much of what you do is because someone else is doing it?
How much of that do you need to stop right now?

Living in a world of comparison can surround us with so many voices we forget what ours sounds like. Then we are just noise that mixes into the crowd. Social Media works best for the clear and remarkable – with the resonating tones.