If you have ever worked in a tire shop, then you may know this one. With six tires to finish up before lunch, things were going well. As I like to batch process, I had successfully removed all the old rubber and stretched a new tire over each of the shiny cleaned rims. With schrader valves gently installed in each valve stem, the only thing left to do was to seat the bead. I thought I was golden.
Life can be like that as well. You have done all the hard work. Things are progressing well. You are accomplishing the goals that lead you closer to your dreams. At times, you may even feel ahead of schedule.
Pop, pop! One tire seated, time to set the pressure. One down, five to go. The other four loudly seat themselves as I go down the line. Nearly there, just one more to go. I place the chuck on the valve. Air hisses inside the tire. Pop! One side seats, but air still whooshes out. I pause, and begin to throw the tire on the ground in an attempt to get the bead to seat. No luck. Still awkwardly half on. I try a bit more air. No luck, the air rushes out one side. I alternate between throwing the tire and adding more air. Nothing. Pulling out the valve and busting out the tire irons again, I remove the tire from the wheel. While in the process of putting the tire back on, my boss walks over.
“How’s it going?” he asks.
“Great, except this last one,” I replied.
“What’s wrong?”
“The one side is fine, but this side won’t seat,” I said as I showed him the wheel.
“You just add more pressure until it does,” he stated simply.
I reinserted the valve for the second time and walked over to the compressor. I began to inflate the tire. Pop! One side seated, as before. I could hear the air but the other side still wasn’t seating. I thought about letting up and trying something else. I didn’t though. Like my boss said, I kept the pressure on the tire. The sound of the air changed. The tire swelled. Pop! The tire finally seated itself properly. What had been the issue? I just needed to add more pressure.
What in your life just needs more pressure? Often, I have found things are the hardest right before they get better. Everything might be going great, then a wrench to your plans might have you considering restarting right when you are about to finish. What should you do? Just add more pressure. Keep going. Sometimes a little more pressure is all you need to reach your goal. Lesson learned? Do not fear the pressure. Do not give in when the pressure seems too much but the goal has yet to be achieved. Keep going. Add more pressure to succeed.