It's common when cyclists begin to use a litany such as this one to not really believe what they're saying. It's not a series of statements that you just need to read aloud. It's important to say the statements with energy, enthusiasm and with a sense of belief.
With sufficient repetition, you'll begin to believe what you're saying. This will generate positive emotions and physical feelings that will reinforce a positive message.
You can begin positive self-talk by creating your own litany that's personalized to your needs. Create statements that mean something to you. Say the litany out loud every morning and night, and before you train and race.
More: Mind Over Mountain: Mental Tips for Climbing
Balance the Scales
The next time you're in a race, record the number of positive and negative thoughts you make. In most cases, the negatives will far outnumber the positives. Some of this is to be expected. Any cyclist who cares about the sport is going to feel and express doubt, frustration and despair.
In order to counter these feelings, it's important to balance the scales. An immediate goal is to increase the positives. This means rewarding yourself when you ride well. If you beat yourself up over a tactical error that causes you to get dropped by the lead group, why shouldn't you pat yourself on the back when you successfully made a difficult breakaway? Pump your fist, slap your leg, and say "yes" when you ride well. It'll psych you up and make you feel more positive about your accomplishments.
Your next goal is to tip the scales in a positive direction by reducing the negatives. Ask yourself, "Why am I so hard on myself when I ride poorly?" The best cyclists in the world have bad days. Why isn't it okay for you to have down periods or bad days as well?
Become aware of your negativity and do things that counter it. For example, after you make a mistake, instead of dropping your head and saying, "I stink," pump your fist and say, "Come on! You can do better!"
More: The Mind of a Mentally Fit Pro
Recent research found that negative experiences, such as negative self-talk, body language and emotions, carry more weight than positive experiences. In fact, 12 positive experiences are equal to one negative experience. This means that for every negative thought you have, whether you say it or not, you'll need to express something positive 12 times to counteract that one slip-up of negativity.
Because this takes so much effort to correct, focus on eliminating negative thoughts and tipping the scales toward positive thinking.
Thought-Stopping
As Earl Nightingale once said, "We become what we think about most of the time." Thought-stopping involves replacing negative self-talk with positive self-talk to become successful.
Start by making a list of the negative statements you commonly say to yourself when you're training and racing. Also make note of when you're more likely to have negative thoughts. Is it at the end of a grueling stage? Or during a tough climb? This will help you to become aware of your behavior so that you can put your focus on replacing these thoughts before they arise.