Am I the only one who tried to fake their eye exam for years as a kid…? I started wearing glasses at 8, and even though I was clearly not able to see, I didn’t want to fail the test, so I acted ultra confident. I squinted as hard as I could and tried to hide my bad eyesight to no avail, as my prescription was updated after every single appointment. It was a breakthrough in my 12-year-old brain when I realized it was ok that my eyesight was bad and I was there to be totally confident in my shortcoming. I practically flaunted how blurry that top line was from then on.
As a fully grown, functioning adult, I remind myself every day that it is invaluable to admit what I don’t know with confidence. Speaking up to ask uncomfortable questions is good practice because it prunes problems arising from false confidence before they crop up.
I was reminded to express my experience confidently during my bike fitting at the Vermont Bicycle Shop. Darren was helping me out big time by taking measurements, adjusting my shoes, handlebars, and seat, and having me pedal it out to try different fits. Throughout the whole thing, a small part of me wanted to just tell him every adjustment was “great, yay, so wonderful, thank you, thank you, thank you”, because I suffer from a case of the niceties. Instead, I shoved that nice girl to the side and politely gave him constructive feedback, like “I feel like I’m swaying too much” or “I’m definitely bouncing” or “the handlebars feel too far away”.
Thank you, Darren, for your expert bicycle fitting, and thank you to 12-year-old me for the eye exam breakthrough!
