Teamwork Unlocks New Goals
A personal reflection on how shifting focus from individual achievement to team collaboration transformed both my cycling performance and professional mindset.
During the pandemic, I started cycling as a way to clear my head and take care of my health. I've always enjoyed challenging myself, so I focused on riding longer distances and pushing my limits.
Then I started using Strava, and everything became measurable. Distance, time, speed. Rankings.
One metric, in particular, became an obsession: segments.
For those who don't know them, segments are specific parts of a route where performance is compared on a leaderboard.
In my category, there was always the same person at the top. For a long time, my goal was simple: beat that time. Improve that ranking.
Along the way, my performance improved. I learned about pacing, wind, and conditions. Still, my focus stayed on that number.
Everything changed when I started training with a group.
I joined a team of triathletes. They were much better than me, with ambitious goals and strong discipline. But what stood out the most was their generosity. They welcomed me, supported me, and more than once, they waited for me.
My goal shifted.
It was no longer about winning a segment. It was about keeping up with the group.
I once told them that while it was just another training session for them, for me it felt like the competition of my life. That mindset helped me grow.
At some point, I stopped checking segments altogether.
A few days ago, I looked at them again by chance and noticed something unexpected: I was leading many of those leaderboards I once obsessed over.
And it didn't really matter anymore.
This time of the year often invites reflection.
What changed wasn't my direction, but my focus.
Sometimes progress doesn't come from chasing numbers, but from choosing the right people to ride with.
Whether in cycling, engineering, or life—the people you surround yourself with shape your trajectory more than any individual metric ever could.