Real-Life Decision Making
You have been racing mountain bikes competitively for three years now.
You have entered races locally and nationally. Now, you have qualified to
enter a race in Australia. This is the first time that you have ever left
the U.S. for a race, and suddenly you find yourself not only representing
yourself, but also your country.
You have trained well for this race; you know the course's corners
and where you can accelerate. You feel confident that if you
concentrate, you can place in the top 10 of this race.
You have done well during the qualification rounds. When a newspaper reporter
interviews you, he lets you know that you have recorded the fastest test time
ever for an American. You and your teammates are thrilled by this.
As you socialize before the race, it is becoming more and more apparent
to you that you have become an instant celebrity -- especially to all the
Americans here at the race. Everyone seems to recognize you; they know your
name and your life story. They tell you how excited they are for you and wish
you luck in the race.
When the day of the race arrives, you realize what a celebrity you really
are. You see fans on the side of the track waving American flags, calling
out your name, wishing you luck and letting you know how proud they are of
you.
When this happened to mountain bike racer Duane Nickull, he suddenly realized
that he "was looking down the lens of this camera in [his] face and realized
that this picture was being beamed live to over 60 countries worldwide with
a TV audience of hundreds of millions of people."
You know from past races that you have to remove all emotions from your
consciousness and cycle logically. However, you are torn as to which feelings
to focus on and which would be most productive for you as a racer.
What do you do?