Say you're a fully grown adult who has decided to learn to ride a bike. Inevitably there will be a moment where you're standing there in your helmet and pads while other adults capably zoom past you on their bikes and you think, "Why am I doing this?"
But then, maybe the possibility enters your mind: Though your overprotective parents forbade you from learning to ride bikes back in elementary school, who is to say you don't possess some latent, prodigious bike-riding abilities that need only an opportunity to express themselves? What are the chances that you're actually the world's most gifted cyclist who has been hidden away unjustly? That possibility buoys you enough to swing your leg over the saddle and make one pedal stroke.
Then, the illusion is shattered because, of course, you don't know how to ride a bike until you learn to ride a bike. But that momentary delusion has served its purpose, and now you're on your way.
I am a fan of this particular flavor of self-motivation, and so is this week's Try Hard guest, Defector's very own Diana Moskovitz. In this episode, Diana talks about growing up as an over-protected child who wasn't allowed to ride bikes without training wheels, and the self-delusion she calls upon when it's time to try something new.
A transcript of the episode can be found here.
You can listen to Try Hard wherever you get your podcasts: RSS here, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify (if you must). Send me voice memos of the things you're trying at podcasts@defector.com or message me on Instagram @alexlaughs.
