A self-taught skill I acquired without any assistance... the principle.

A long long time ago...

in a suburb far far away...

lived a young boy who used to watch the older kids ride their bikes without their hands on the handle bars, and he wanted to do it too.

At first he tried letting go of the handle bars while keeping his hands just above them. So close that the casual observer would not realise his hands were not on the handle bars at all.

This didn't do any good. So one day he took a risk. He let go entirely. And to make sure of it, he moved his hands away from the handle bars - and - clapped them together ONCE before quickly bringing tham back to the bars.

He'd done it... if even only briefly.

Could he do two claps?

Only one way to find out... DO IT.

And he did. He let go of the handle bars, clapped his hands twice and brought them back to the bars again.

Could he build on his success and do three claps?

Only one way to find out... DO IT AND SEE.

And he did. He let go of the handle bars, QUICKLY clapped his hands three times and brought them back to the bars.

Was four claps possible?

He figured it was... after all... he could do three, and four was... JUST ONE MORE.

And so he let go of the handle bars, quickly clapped his hands four times and made it back to the handle bars just in time to regain control of the bike. Obviously four claps was some kind of limit, to him.

So he FOCUSED on doing four claps only.

And when he had that down pat, he went on to five claps and six claps and gradually made his way all the way to 10 claps.

After doing ten claps for a while he realised he didn't actually need to grab the handle bars... he could wait because he still had control. And so he stopped clapping all together, for he had enough control to let go and still maintain majority control, at will. The odd few initial times he did need to grab the handle bars again was not scarey to him as he sensed the loss of control and made it with plenty of time to spare.

And THAT is HOW I learned to ride my pushbike without holding on to the handle bars... one small step achieved and built on at a time, until I mastered it.

I could have read all the books in the world, but it was actually DOING IT that taught me. DOING IT, one teeny, tiny, small clap at a time.

Funny that I should recall how I learned to ride a bike without hands... then again... not so funny when you consider I had just read

"For a man to wish to be rich is of little purpose. For a man to desire five pieces of gold is a tangible desire which he can press to fulfillment. After he has backed his desire for five pieces of gold with strength of purpose to secure it, next he can find similar ways to obtain ten pieces and then twenty pieces and later a thousand pieces and, behold, he has become wealthy. In learning to secure his one definite small desire, he hath trained himself to secure a larger one. This is the process by which wealth is accumulated: first in small sums, then in larger ones as a man learns and becomes more capable.
Desires must be simple and definite. They defeat their own purpose should they be too many, too confusing, or beyond a man's training to accomplish" - page 40, "The Seventh Cure For A Lean Purse," - The Richest Man In Babylon

To put it into my bike terms... "For a boy to wish to ride without hands is of little purpose. For a boy to desire to ride without hands for one hand clap is a tangible desire which he can press to fulfillment. After he has backed his desire for riding hands-free for one hand clap with strength of purpose to do it, next he can find similar ways to ride hands-free for two hand claps, and ten hand claps and, behold, he can ride hands-free. In learning to secure his one definte small desire of riding hands-free for one hand clap, he hath trained himself to ride hands-free for more hand claps. This is the process by which hands-free riding is achieved: first with small hand claps, then many more hand claps as a boy learns and becomes more capable."

Wishing to write a book is of little purpose - but - to desire to write one sentence is something tangible. And should be quite easy. After achieving your desire to write one sentence, next you can do similar things to write two sentences, and five sentences, and ten sentences and, behold, you have written a book. Forget the book, forget writing for a set period of time... write a set number of sentences regardless of time. And then, once you are done, write just one more sentence to finish off. This is the process by which a book is written: first with one sentence, then many more sentences as you learn and become more capable.

Whatever... I think it's amazing that the secret of success to wealth, health, and achieving whatever you want to achieve, is contained in the principle of "How I Learned To Ride A Bike Without Hands."

Michael Ross