OUR WISH FOR YOU IN 2022

Every year around the Holidays we ponder creating a list with items to buy for motorcyclists.  Everyone is doing shopping lists these days, so we decided to do something different by digging below the surface to enter a realm beyond the superficial. After a few years of disruption (thanks Covid!) which may or may not have included illness, anxiety, and/or major life events, we thought we’d share our wish for you in 2022.

Our wish for you is to make motorcycling a spring board for something meaningful in your life.  We want you to use motorcycling to inspire and motivate.  Sound vague?  Ambiguous? Let’s make our wish a bit more concrete for you. Here are the ways TEAM Arizona staff have used motorcycling as a conduit for a deeper, more rich life experience.

Story time.  After spending more than a decade in the financial industry and spending soul-draining hours stuck in a cubicle, I decided to start a business.  As most entrepreneurs understand, the first three years of building a business can be extremely challenging and can suck a person’s bank account dry.  Therefore, I wanted a separate stream of income while building the business.  I decided to become a coach because I enjoyed my past training experiences immensely.  It was a life-changing decision that added unexpected purpose to my life that banking and business could not provide.  I became enriched far beyond numbers in a bank account.

I quickly learned that coaching wasn’t about me or even riding a motorcycle.  My role as a coach is to be a conduit for people to reach their goals while on their journey.  It is about sharing my passion for riding with those who want to fulfill their dream of riding a motorcycle.  With their family and friends.  With people who matter to them.  People who add meaning and purpose to their life.

My world view was barraged by new experiences that forced me to evaluate what I thought I knew about the world; serious introspection time.  In short, coaching changed me…for the better.  I learned a lot early in my coaching career and continue to learn massive amounts, but here are some of the standout elements:

• The adult learning principles taught in the RiderCoach Prep Workshop have wide and varied applications outside of rider training.  Some of these techniques have enhanced my personal relationships and my understanding of human beings in general.  I would have probably never encountered these principles without this training.
• How to communicate concepts in multiple ways to meet a person where they’re at.
• Grace; for me, for my co-workers, and for participants.  Perfection doesn’t exist; yet, it doesn’t mean we cannot strive for excellence.

No, you don’t have to become a RiderCoach (although we are hiring!) to develop more meaning in your life, but you can find ways to work within the industry you may find fulfilling.  Sales, repair, logistics, and management are just a few ideas.  So dive right in…the industry is waiting for you.

Curiosity combined with wanderlust and a motorcycle have enriched my life in a variety of uncountable ways.  From forming friendships with folks in different countries to witnessing the pinnacle of motorcycle sport to coming face to face with riding in fear, traveling on two wheels has helped to deliver a strong sense of who and where I am in this world.  I suspect it may do the same for you.  In the most extreme sense one of our RiderCoaches, Sean Flanagan, has gained an understanding of where and how he fits in by circumnavigating the globe.  The cool thing is that a gesture of that magnitude is not required to add purpose to your life.  A simple blast up a favorite road with family or friends would suffice.  Solo may be just the trick too.

Obviously these are just a few ways to use motorcycling to find meaning.  I’m sure the possibilities are endless, but I want to reveal WHY I created this piece.  While writing this article, Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, flitted into my thoughts over and over again.  I was particularly struck by the author’s notion that we have the ability to thrive in the most horrible human conditions.  How we thrive is by creating purpose.  We create purpose by actively choosing our attitude and by taking responsibility for our actions- just like on a motorcycle.  In the upcoming year, our wish for all of you is to twist the throttle with intent.  We wish that you take control of the handlebars and use motorcycling as a means to develop more purpose and meaning in your life.

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Bill Seltzer has been a Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCoach since 2003 and a Total Control Advanced Riding Instructor since 2011.  He currently serves as the Marketing Director for TEAM Arizona and is a member of the Arizona Strategic Highway Safety Planning committee.  Have questions or comments about the article?  Email him: Bill@MotorcycleTraining.com