Growth Mindset Tip #19 - Keep Pedaling for More Mindfulness and Resilience - Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience Through Kintsugi Wisdom

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the secret to getting through life’s toughest moments was as simple as one powerful phrase: keep pedaling?

When challenges hit, most of us instinctively slow down, lose momentum, and start doubting ourselves. In this episode of Whole Again, Michael shares a deeply personal lesson inspired by mountain biking, resilience, and recovery after his near-death cycling accident. Through stories, reflections, and practical wisdom, he explores how continuing to move forward — even imperfectly — can help us maintain balance, build resilience, and navigate obstacles with greater confidence.

You will discover:

Why momentum matters most when life feels uncertain or overwhelming
How “keeping pedaling” can help you move through fear, setbacks, and self-doubt
A healthier perspective on balancing persistence with rest, recovery, and reflection

Press play to learn how one simple mindset shift can help you stay balanced, resilient, and moving forward — no matter what life puts in your path.

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Hey there, it's Michael. Welcome to Whole Again, the show that's here in support of the person you're becoming and your quest to live a meaningful life. And since it's Fri-yay, I have another one of my growth mindset tips for you. All this year on our Friday episodes, I'm sharing lessons I've learned since my last bad day, also known as my near-death cycling accident, that happened 25 years ago.

I'm celebrating the 25th anniversary of that accident, and I feel like I'm living in bonus time, and I've reached the point where I wanna share what I've learned with people. Now, I do believe that we all have our own whole house cookie recipe for success, for meaning, for who we want to become. So some of these tips I share are gonna hit the mark.

You're gonna be like, "Yeah, let me add that to my recipe." And others are gonna be, as they said in Major League, just a bit outside. So take what works and then leave the rest behind. And this week we're up to tip number 19, which means that we're only a few weeks away from being halfway done, which also falls right around America's 250th birthday, which this sounds like a good time to plug my new series that I'm doing that I started last week, and we're gonna continue through most likely to Election Day.

I'm talking to real folks across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The goal is to talk to two people from each state and the District. And it's not about debate. I'm simply asking them about their reflections of America as she turns 250, what makes her amazing, and if they could fix something, what would they fix, sort of in our Kintsugi spirit.

It doesn't have to be perfect because after all, we're a perfectly imperfect nation, but it's a meaningful first step. And I also ask people what they wish for as they blow out the candles of America's birthday cake. I'm not talking to politicians. I'm not talking to pundits or influencers. I'm talking to real-world people, people that make, in my opinion, this country great.

And if you'd like to participate, drop me a line, except if you live in California and Delaware. Those two states are complete. But the other states I'm still working on. So if you know someone who might wish to participate or if you'd like to participate yourself, yeah, simply drop me a line and we can work on scheduling your conversation.

So here we are. Tip number 19, keep pedaling. As I mentioned in an episode as we started the month of May, May is National Bike Month. It's a month designed to bring awareness to sharing the road because there are bicyclists on the road. And of course, with my accident, you can appreciate hopefully why I care about bicycle safety and how I think the bicycle is, as they say in Boston, wicked cool, but we have to learn how to share, something that I hope we all learned how to do before we even got to kindergarten.

And cyclists are not perfect. We need to share the road with motorists, and motorists also need to do the same. So all the Friday tips this month will have some type of cycling tie-in. Last week, I shared the goal of putting down your phone, especially when you're driving, and this week it's all around keep pedaling, which is something I write in every one of my books.

If people want me to autograph their book, I let them know to keep pedaling. And there's a story behind this. Actually, this story predates my accident, so this goes back a few more years. I went to college at James Madison University in the Shenandoah Valley, a beautiful part of this country. And during that period of time, mountain biking was becoming a thing.

I was always a road cyclist, but I got into mountain biking. And there was this guy, not part of the university, a townie if you will. At the time I pegged him for, what, 45 years old, but as a 19-year-old I thought everyone was old. He was probably more like 32, 33. And from a fitness perspective, I could beat him pretty handedly.

But when things got technical on our mountain bikes, he just blew me away. He actually blew all of us away. He made it look so easy as he dropped all of us. And I was starting to get frustrated because I thought I was fitter, I was stronger. And so what was happening when we got to technical parts of a course, going through a rock bed or through a stream or a rooted section of the trail, I did what most people do when we meet some level of worry or danger.

I stopped pedaling. I slowed down and I lost all my momentum And when my momentum dropped, well, I eventually stopped. But he kept on pedaling through all the obstacles, and off he went. So his advice was to keep pedaling, especially when you're going through something, when you're going through an obstacle or a challenge, keep up the momentum.

And in addition to helping us with our momentum, it also helps with our balance. As things move forward on the bike, we can stay upright, which is a good thing when you're riding a bicycle. It also works in life. In fact, Albert Einstein, that smart guy, has a quote that I love: "Life is like riding a bicycle.

To keep your balance, you must keep moving." Now, with this tip, I don't want you to take it too literally. I'm not suggesting that we are pedaling all the time, twenty-four seven, three sixty-five. After all, I'm the pause, breathe, reflect guy. So when things get really sketchy, sometimes it's good to stop, come up with a strategy before you move forward.

Sometimes it's helpful to coast because recovery is also important in helping us live a life of meaning and help us become who we're becoming. But in general, since mood follows action, and as Robert Frost said, "The only way through is through," we can develop our ability to keep pedaling. So instead of slowing down and losing our momentum when things get tough, we can find a way to remember to keep moving, to keep our balance, keep up our momentum, and that's how we create a ripple effect.

That's how we get through things. So this is tip number nineteen, to remember to keep pedaling.

And as always, thank you for being here. Thank you for listening in. I hope you'll catch our new series, A Perfectly Imperfect Union. The next episode airs tomorrow. I'll be releasing those conversations every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, along with our regular Wholegain schedule, where I share a microdose meditation on Monday, of course, our Wednesday episode, and our tips throughout the rest of the year here on Fridays.

And if this episode or if this tip really resonated with you, I hope you'll share it with someone in your peloton And until our next episode, which is tomorrow, let's remember to celebrate our scars as golden symbols of our strength and resilience. And don't forget to have fun storming the castle.

And if you wish to learn more about creating beautiful ripples and how to prevent a bad moment from turning into a bad day, please visit my website, michaelobrienshift.com and sign up for my newsletter called The Ripple Effect. And join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday here at Whole Again and discover how you can heal, grow, and become more resilient and celebrate our scars as golden symbols of strength and resilience.

Until then, remember, you can always come back to your breath. You've got this and we've got you.