When David Brailsford took over the British Cycling Team in 2003 as the performance director, the Team’s cycling record was appalling. Not only did it have no record of success, it was also marked with the shameful headstone: hopeless. No reputable cycling manufacturer wanted anything to do with it, for it had failed to make any impact on the Tour de France, the sport’s Holy Grail, for over a century. Every coach had consistently failed, and sadly, all that the British Cycling Team could boast was one solitary gold medal since 1908. The impact of David Brailsford on the Team was revolutionary. He took the team from practically no medals to 150 gold medals. How did he do this? What was his winning formula?
The method he used is called marginal gains or 1% factor. The science behind this comes from the idea that if you were to break down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by 1%, you would get a significant increase when you put them all together.
David began by making the bike seats more comfortable, and rubbed alcohol on the tyres for a better grip. He advised riders to wear electrically heated over-shorts to keep the muscles in prime condition while riding. He also used biofeedback sensors to see how athletes responded to particular workouts. After having tested various fabrics in a wind tunnel, he got his outdoor riders to switch to indoor racing suits for they were lighter and more aerodynamic. Doctors were hired to teach the riders proper ways and means to wash their hands to reduce the chance of catching a cold. Furthermore, pillows and mattresses were tested to see which ones suited the rider’s body structure for rest and optimal performance. The bikes were placed against a white background to see layers of dust, which could cause friction. These and manifold other improvements were considered.
After having implemented these small, aggregate changes, the Team became competitive beyond measure. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it dominated the track and road events, winning over 60% of the gold medals. At the following Olympic Games in London, the Team set 9 Olympic records and 7 world records. Then for the first time in its 110 year history, a British rider won the Tour de France, followed by four further wins. This meant 5 Tour de France successes in only 6 years, and the achievement of 178 championships, 66 Olympic/Para-Olympic medals, all in the space of 10 years. This proved to be the most successful run in cycling history.
This above method shows how the smallest change can make the biggest difference. With the lockdown and confinements in mind, we are now looking to make one huge dramatic change in our lives to overcome all our obstacles. If we believe that with one singular gigantic action, we can bring about a massive change – be it spiritual, physical or economic – then it is nothing but a fool’s paradise. This is because often people reach out for an earth shattering experience to change aspects of their life, without implementing the small steps to reaffirm and strengthen their understanding.
If a pilot adjusts the nose of the plane by only a couple of degrees over a long haul flight, the plane could deviate into another country. Our life’s destination is determined by the small steps we take today. We get what we repeat. If we want to know where we will end up in life, we will have to see how the small efforts we make are compounded. Our perception of ourselves and others becomes a subconscious, habitual practice. When we see others as angry and foolish we begin to find such people everywhere we look. During the lockdown, we saw many demonstrations. More often than not, they were not due to one particular incident, but a series of personal experiences that boil over from a single tragic event, pushed to the tipping point. Behind every sudden change, there are years of unexamined causes.
The accumulation of improvement, based on 1%, may not be noticeable on a daily basis, but it is certainly visible at the end of the year like the impact of eating junk food and playing an instrument over a period of time. Hence, positive results come from taking regular, small steps.
Day’s work – at a jeweller’s,
Won’t adept you, in its art,
A pupil – becoming prefect,
Can’t perform tutor’s part!
He – who’s being schooled,
Could he practically teach?
Having learnt – your lesson,
Only then strive to preach!
Be steadfast, do not falter,
In the secret, that I reveal,
Without License13 – Avtar,
Fifth pledge: don’t unveil!
– Avtar bani (9E)
The Avtar Bani is crystal clear in its assessment of the successive stages of development. With a single day’s experience at a jeweller’s shop, just as a trainee cannot be an adept at making ornaments, a student, who becomes a monitor, cannot be a fully-fledged teacher.
The teacher of truth, Baba Avtar Singhji, explains how one day cannot make lasting identity. It is the repeated learning process of mastering the Self which aligns the mind to the Master. As this is a slow process, the mind thinks no difference is being made, thus slides back into its old routines. Small steps on a negative descent are equally damaging over time. Being rude on one occasion can be forgiven, but the continuation of rudeness can end most relationships. There are always dips and lows in any life-driven pursuit. In the landscape of enlightened saints and sages, the unforgettable legacy of their wellbeing for all, is truly exemplary. This overriding cause is achieved with the small steps of living, moment to moment, through the realisation God.
A bamboo is rarely seen for the first few years, as it expands its root system laterally under the soil. When it shoots up perpendicularly in the spring, it can grow up to 90 feet in height. Cancer, similarly, is undetectable 80% of the time, but then it overtakes life rapidly. Life and its challenges are never linear. Even the sudden moment of enlightenment (Gyan) is due to grace, but the years of yearning and preparation of mind to receive that grace cannot be ignored. With small steps, the greatest set back is the feeling that no improvement is being made, for tangible results are not always visible.
Lord Krishna spells it out as follows: You have the right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
Indeed, when success is achieved, people believe it happened overnight, rather than accepting the result of many small steps taken through the jungle of doubts and disappointments.
The notion of spiritual growth is at the heart of small steps. There is no need to follow the rigidity of religious dogmatic rituals, which encage people with isolated routines and occasions. These routines amount to so-called religious days of fasting, praying a prescribed number of times, in a specific manner, clothed in colour-coded apparels. Spiritual growth cannot be real, if it is stifled by limiting measures. But when it flourishes, through the divine link with the Unlimited, every action becomes sacred.
When water flows from the kitchen tap to the sink, we can also see the essence without form – the Divine – flowing undamped. In seeing a fallen leaf, ruffled in the breeze, we can see how the essence without form remains unruffled and unchanged. These moments, weaving naturally and effortlessly within the ordinary, make each moment extraordinary, filling everything with wonder and joy. This joy is multiplied when we meet others who also experience such insights in daily life. We can start today to see how the small steps we take towards God are actually reflected in the small steps we take towards each another.
We start by walking towards the Teacher of Truth, which is a huge life-changing event; it is akin to planting a seed in the ground. It is Lord Jesus Christ’s mustard seed, a tiny seed that grows into a mighty tree. Describing the Kingdom of God as the smallest mustard seed, at first, may appear to be an oxymoron, and yet it is so because the smallest seed is compared to God’s boundless presence. This boundless Godly presence is held within the smallest act of seeking grace.
Religion is shackled to large festivals, holy days, yearly ritual observances and large displays of sacrificial homages. In actual fact, the spiritual path is one that is lived in small steps, within every hidden, small breath. Every breath is a spiritual journey of conversing with, and perceiving, the Lord. Every small street can become a holy path and every small room, a sacred temple. Such a way of life is found also when we study the lives of the enlightened. When we realise God is not isolated, then we, as humans, cease to isolate one another.
God is neither isolated in temples nor in distant expansive skies, but resides even within the smallest particles and atoms. Humility in itself has been coined as the way to God, to live the vastness of divinity in every small aspect of life. Such a unique life acts as a lightning rod in the world for those seeking purpose, love and oneness. So, take the first step towards a life of completion.
– Surjit Dhami, Cannock, UK
