Have you ever wanted to master something quickly? In this episode, I discuss 3 secrets that will ensure you level up in the video game of life--faster than you can imagine, but I'll warn you, you're going to have to get really uncomfortable. 🎧AIRPODS MAX GIVEAWAY🎧 To enter to win the Airpods Max with an "If Then Podcast" engraving, here's what to do: 1) Screenshot this podcast and share on your Instagram tagging @ifthenpodcast 2) Follow @ifthenpodcast on Instagram 3) If we get to 200 shares by the end of Season 2, you have an opportunity to win the Airpods Max! But don't forget, that each week, for those of you who share on Instagram, I also give away two 1 month Audible gift cards which include a FREE credit for an audiobook + 1 MONTH ACCESS to their Plus Catalog which includes thousands of audiobooks with no credits needed. WEBSITE: https://www.ifthenpodcast.com EMAIL: [email protected] CREDITS: Written and produced by Jordan Taylor Some racing sounds from NorCalCycling: https://www.youtube.com/c/NorCalCycling Some racing sounds from NationsNumber1Beast: https://www.youtube.com/user/nationsnumber1beast  TRANSCRIPT: My name is Jordan Taylor, and welcome to the If Then Podcast. Our brains our a conglomerate of if/then statements, like in computer code, and oftentimes new lines of code are hard to write in our mind when we’re trying new things, for example if I want to play piano, then I need to read music. Sitting down and coding that particular if then statement could take years of dedication, but when we do sit down and create new then statements for a complicated if, it feels freaking amazing. This podcast is your weekly motivation, and mine, to get uncomfortable and write some neurological code. “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot *The sound of riding a bike* When I got home from getting my driver’s license that summer, the very first thing I did was ride my bike—a dysfunctional, red mountain bike, a hand-me-down from my brother, with no breaks. I zigged and zagged to slow myself on the descent, scraping my soles on pavement as the stop sign approached. The convection oven wind stuck the beads of sweat to my skin as the air hung its humidity like a weighty, damp towel over me—and I came to a stop. My heart pounded from the previous uphill beating. A common neighborhood hill—an Everest to me. Last week, though, I could barely make it up the climb. Dang, now I’m practically flying. College was on my mind that day, like most days at 18. Decisions started to pile. Where should I go? Should I go at all? Maybe there’s a collegiate bike racing team around, is that even a thing? All I knew was that in the confusing racket of it all, somehow that noisy, squeaking bike, gave me quietude. A car passed. I pedaled home with legs aching from the 5 mile, 100% effort. I couldn’t possibly go harder. Months later, my dad bought me my own road bike as I got more interested in the idea of racing and even found a college team to apply for. I had been riding every single day for the past month and was getting really serious about it—even getting faster on my timed course I had created around my neighborhood. I was practicing for a race series that I had just heard about in Nashville. Turns out, the last race of the year was actually on Wednesday. Here was my opportunity to prove to myself that all the hard effort I had put in had paid off. Because I had pushed myself so hard the past few months every day, I had the sneaking suspicion that my first race was going to be a complete blow out. Wednesday came, and with it, the gun. And we were off. A 20 minute beginner Criterium, or Crit, a short looping course. I was put in the lowest tiered race—the one for who I found out were called Category 5 riders due to my inexperience, but I wasn’t so sure that I belonged with the Cat 5s. Maybe I was inexperienced in racing, sur