Kit’s Story
Kit is 14 years old and is totally into bike racing.
Kit dreams of one day wearing a Winners Jersey in a Grand Tour cycling tournament.
Kit is determined to make this dream come true.
The only trouble facing Kit is that racing bikes are extremely expensive, and Kit has very little money.
One thing that Kit does have is 28000 of his 33thou available to turn this dream into a reality.
Although still quite young, Kit starts to manage his 33thou days to achieve his formidable goal.
Kit spends some time researching the backgrounds of the great bike riders he wants to measure up to. Very soon he realises that he will need to invest days, months, and years of his time to reach his ultimate goal. He refuses to be put off by this. He produces an outline Roadmap of the stages he will follow to get to his destination. He uses this to perform, at a very high level, an outline Goal Gap review of what he must do in order to succeed. His Goal Gap review produces a list that is way too large to manage in one go, and so he breaks his plans down into manageable chunks.
The most important target, in the short term, is that he has to acquire the best racing bike he can to practice on. With a good bike he will be allowed to join the local cycling club. He will use that as a base to launch the next phase of his plans – to engage in amateur bike racing. After that, he can then move on to the major circuits. Breaking his goal down into these manageable categories makes him feel much more confident that he can realise his dream. Kit sets up a 33thou Roadmap for each target, and is eager to get started.
For his first target of getting a good bike, Kit begins his research into suitable bikes likely to be in his price range. He is restricted by the fact that he has little in the way of savings, and his weekly allowance is small. Because new bikes are so expensive, he decides to look into used bike offers. He rules out an internet purchase, as the one thing he does know is that he needs to “try before he buys” any bike. He cannot test-ride a bike online! He checks out the local cycle shops for any used stock, and he scans the local paper. As a result, he gets a good idea of a number of models, and rough price range of the ones he likes.
He wanders along to the local cycling club meeting and gets talking to some of the members. They are very helpful, and advise him of the best bikes to look out for – and the ones to avoid!
Equipped with a clear picture in his mind of the model range he is aiming for, Kit starts put together his 33thou Roadmap to get him from where he is now, to where he wants to get to. He decides to do this using a wall chart which he pins to his bedroom wall. He also attaches a picture of the best bike he thinks he can get to help him stay focused on reaching his goal. Kit’s Goal Gap review identifies that the main Enabling Asset that he is missing is cash. Although the bike he wants is not new, it is still expensive and Kit simply cannot afford it. He also needs to buy a good cycling helmet and some other gear, which adds more to his costs. Kit assesses his current savings and concludes that, even with his allowance, he will have to get a job of some sort in order to raise enough money to pay for his ideal bike.
The local paper shop has no vacancies, and the local supermarket wants him to start before school every day to stock shelves. Kit reckons he can’t commit to that as it would interfere with his lift to school. He talks about his problem with a neighbour who has been a family friend for many years. He offers to pay Kit if he cuts the lawn grass on one day each week, and also does some light gardening work for him. They agree a time and date for this to start. Kit enters all this information into his Roadmap. Alas, though, the money Kit gets from doing just one stint of gardening per week on its own won’t have much impact on his savings, but it’s a start! Kit gives it his best efforts. The good news is that, after Kit has done a couple of weeks gardening for the neighbour, other neighbours ask if he can also do some garden work for them. Kit builds a schedule on his Roadmap to manage his time between the various gardens. Soon Kit’s funds start to grow but, even at this rate, Kit reckons it will take a year to hit his funding target.
Kit chats with his uncle about his cycling plan and how he is funding it. His uncle is fascinated. As an engineer at a local works he knows all about engines. He offers to teach Kit how to maintain them so that he can earn more cash by looking after the machines he uses to cut the neighbours’ grass. Kit is keen to learn, and builds time into his Roadmap to accommodate the teaching sessions. Empowered by this new Enabling Asset, pretty soon, Kit is earning extra cash from the neighbours by also doing routine maintenance on their mowers. They are only too pleased to pay Kit rather than pay shop prices. Kit’s uncle keeps a ‘watching brief’ over his work to make sure it’s OK. Better still, other neighbours who cut their own lawn, are also happy to let Kit carry out routine maintenance work on their machines. Kit is so busy he is having to turn away people, as he just doesn’t have any more free time to give them.
Kit’s stockpile of Enabling Assets is really starting to grow. Not only can he use a mower, he can also tend gardens, clear rubbish, wash an odd vehicle or two, and even carry out routine mower maintenance. To do all this, Kit has also managed to acquire some simple tools, wrenches, screwdrivers, a hammer, etc., from neighbours who have never used them for years. Kit knows that these will also prove very useful when doing any repairs and maintenance on his new bike when he gets it. Kit’s dream of owning his own racing cycle is becoming more of a reality every day. He updates his Roadmap to workout a new “achieved” date for his goal, and it now looks like it might be Christmas, rather than next Spring when he will be able to afford his bike.
Kit is really starting to feel the excitement – but he knows he is not there yet. As winter approaches, the gardening money starts to fall off, so he realises that he will need more people to bring in their mowers for a service. Unfortunately, that means finding a place to do the work, as he can no longer do it outside in the garden due to the weather. He explains this to a neighbour with a mower for servicing, who he is having to turn away. The neighbour suggests that he use a spare shed in his garden, provided that he keeps it neat and tidy. Kit agrees and, in return, services the neighbour’s mower for free. Kit updates his Roadmap. He reviews how many more of his 33thou days he needs to allocate to raising enough cash to reach his target.
Just then Kit hits a problem. He realises that, if he works and raises money as he originally planned until next summer, he might be able to afford a better bike that the one’s that he had earmarked – maybe even a brand new one. Unsure of what to do about his problem, Kit speaks with his School Guidance Counsellor. She suggests that he considers two things: First of all, is his goal about cycle racing, or is it about fixing mowers? Secondly, she asks him to think about other priorities that might take precedent over his time next year – for example, would there be enough time to study for his important upcoming examinations if he continues to spend all his spare time working on gardens?
Kit concedes that he had forgotten how vital his upcoming exams are, and that he might need to allocate more of his 33thou days to these more important matters. He decides to stick with his original plan and buy a used bike. Early in the New Year, Kit buys his second hand racing bike. He feels Great! He couldn’t be happier! Everyone who knows how hard he worked for it congratulates him. They, too, think he’s Great! Kit made sure that he cycled round to thank everybody who helped him get this far. Bursting with confidence, Kit sets about designing and planning for the next phase of his goal. He joins the local cycling club.
That Winners Jersey was going to be his… one day. Of that he is certain!
Well Done, Kit!
oooOOOOooo
