Nicely worded

I like these ideas.  I would like to live them more than I currently do.

Sit back and enjoy a short piece on exploration by none other than Buzz Aldrin.

What's He Thinking?

Jacobs singing Crowie to sleep?

I love getting a glimpse into the mindset of athletes I respect.  Any little snippet I can get to see how they motivate, how they push harder, or how they prepare fascinates me.  This photo shows me nothing.  In fact, this photo gives me more questions than answers!

On the left is Craig Alexander, 2 time World Ironman champion and one of the best prepared athletes in the triathlon world.  When he rocks up to race you can be sure he's got the whole thing dialled.  He doesn't come unprepared.

On the right is Pete Jacobs, triathlon journey-man.  Not a novice when it comes to long distance racing but he certainly manages to fly under the radar.  In both the 2 years previous to this photo he had made the podium at Kona (I think) so he was close to the win.

This media conference was in the days before the 2012 Hawaiian Ironman, after a few months of Pete Jacobs telling anyone who would listen that he was ready to win.  Had the ever humble Crowie had enough of hearing the talk?  I think a lot of people had written him off as all talk, myself included.

Pete Jacobs ended up dominating everyone who stood in his way that day.  

Home Before Lunch

If you're bored with your usual running route this weekend get a little creative.  Go somewhere different or do it a different way.  You can still run an epic route and be home in time for lunch...

Procedure

I like standard procedure.  I like systems.  I even like rules.  But I hate the way they're followed.  I hate the way they're written, their intentions, and their condescending disregard for the end user.  In the sections of my life where I sell out, procedure is a huge part of the problem but it's a necessary evil and has created its own solution.  The use of good procedure has allowed for the recruitment of lesser intellect.

Let me explain.  If procedure is a set of rules that, if followed correctly, will result in a desired outcome, then a free-thinking, intelligent human is no longer required.  There are benefits and disadvantages to that. The system will benefit because risk is limited.  However, if the system fails and the human running it does not have the capacity to perform the task manually then there is no hope.  In a corporate world procedure is used well for conveyerbelt roles (like mine!)- and as a result idiots are recruited and process is never improved.

For my personal projects, however, I like to use procedures and systems because to me they are dynamic.  The process is always being tweaked.  I guess you could argue that it's not a procedure if it isn't static but in my black and white mind the result is easier to evaluate when the journey was documented.  It is very rare for me to tweak a procedure before I can evaluate a result of some kind so in a way the process isn't dynamic until the end result is complete; whether that be a success or failure.

In its simplest form a procedure is an estimation of the steps required to reach a particular goal.  I want to fry an egg- I have to heat up a pan, crack and egg into the pan, and let it cook.  The best analysis can come at the end of the process.  The egg stuck to the pan?  I'll tweak the procedure next time by putting oil in before the egg.  The egg was too runny?  I'll cook it for longer.

For my projects the fun (and hard work) comes well before I start performing the steps.  I feel much more comfortable and confident in a pressure situation when I've set in place the system that I think will get me the greatest result.  I think this is borne of my athletic and financial markets past.  Want to run faster?  Train in a particular fashion over a particular period of time.  It has been tried and tested.  Want to buy low, sell high?  Use these statistics/ econometrics/ chart patterns that have worked in the past.  Knowing that these steps will give the highest chance of success takes away a lot of the unknown and that comforts me in the heat of battle.

Analysis of the efficacy of the system used is essential for improvement.  So many variables have the ability to influence end results so these need to be taken into account but by testing, performing and re-testing, systems and procedures will become robust and risks are able to be minimised.  Intuition still has a part but this will be built from experience of tweaking. Failure builds experience and procedure allows you to document that in a controlled environment.

Visualisation

I saw a photo of Ross Clarke-Jones earlier today and it reminded me of Visualisation.  Several years ago I heard RCJ say he used visualisation before winning The Eddie and I was intrigued because a) I had used similar techniques; and b) I didn't know it had a name!

When I was about 14 or 15 I started practicing my transitions for triathlon.  I'd lay out my riding and running stuff and pretend to come in from the swim, change into my bike stuff, then pretend to come in from the bike and change into my running stuff.  That chain of short, simple tasks is something that is easy to get faster at with physical practice.  If I was bored and not near my equipment I would play out the transition in my head and imagine each of the steps in great detail.  Often with such detail that I would imagine the temperature, noise and atmosphere around me.

Given my complete lack of any psychological evidence I can't tell you why this works but it made me so much faster in transition.  I still go through the process of transition in my head after I've set up my bike before a race.  In fact on race morning I play out the whole day in my head.  I've become better at it over the years, including visualising the run out of the water, into transition and then out onto the bike and run legs.  I don't think this could ever replace doing the task physically but it certainly seems to compliment the physical work.


I've also used this in trading, to a lesser extent.  While there's no physical task required, there is a lot of emotion and running through different scenarios in your head can help keep fear and greed in check.  It certainly helps having a vivid imagination but it's a fine line between visualising and dreaming.  Thinking about an end result wont change anything.  Thinking through entire processes and putting yourself in that position is what seems to strengthen neural pathways. I guess it's just a form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy...

Give it a try.  Think about something you're learning to do or trying to get faster/ better at.  Zone out and imagine yourself in that position.  Try to imagine everything around you in as much detail as you can and then act out the process in your head.  Go through all 5 physical senses and then imagine what you're feeling and thinking at this point.  If you want to change what you are feeling or thinking during the task then just change it.

This is a chose your own adventure book and the more you visualise the way you want to handle this situation, the less foreign it will be when the time comes to actually perform it. 

Motivation

My drive is heavily fueled by motivation.  It comes and goes and for some tasks I'm happy to work when the motivation is there and let it fly when it is not.  For others, however, I have to keep working regardless of whether I am motivated.

I thought everyone needs motivation but now I'm wondering if that's true.  It's not necessarily a matter of driven people needing it and lazy people not; I know some very dedicated people who simply don't search for motivation.  They just plug away regardless.

I know I thrive off it, though.  Especially before a habit forms or before I can see progress in whatever it is I'm doing.  Sometimes it will come in the form of admiration; a kind of respect for someone who has done it before you.  It could be revenge or to show someone up: 'You said it couldn't be done...'  Sometimes it will be just the challenge of the challenge- which is the case for me meeting my targets at work, 'cos it certainly isn't the piss-weak bonus I'm going for!  Either way, it burns bright and burns rapidly so it's often short-lived for me and I'm constantly searching for new motivation.

Here are a few things that are getting me fired up to work harder at the moment:

Parko winning the world title.


Brian Mackenzie's 'alternative method of training'.


If you're in a slump, find something that inspires you to break out of it.  If you're the type to thrive off this, make sure you keep looking because I think inspiration is a starting point and motivation is a continuation of that.  Hopefully beyond that your progress will be all you need to keep pushing you along.

Greener Grass

While I stand on a crowded train full of screaming kids enthusiastically telling the shittest stories, stalled in the rail yards waiting for a free platform, I watch people on the practice courts at the Tennis Centre and wonder what the most painful part of their job is.

I don't recognise these people- maybe they are hitting partners, maybe players, but at this time of the year anyone playing on those courts does it for a living. Get paid to play tennis...

What's their biggest stress? Media? Travel? Injuries?

Grass does look green sometimes.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Excuses...

I promise I will have something for you soon! I have no Internet at home and work blocks Blogspot but I have a backlog of 5 posts to put up.

If I were English I'd just blame the 2mm of snow that just 'dumped' and you would have to deal with it.

...but if the Internet man uses that excuse again I'm going to break his legs.

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I Think I'm Back.

Things are a little different to when I last put a blog up. I'm a lot lighter; lighter in posessions, companions, attachments and money. Also lighter in friends, direction and raison d'être. But I have made up for that with a pot belly and a lot of issues... Ha, that would be the easier path, but if I were one to make things easier for myself I probably wouldn't be here right now. So I have made up for my lost weight with the most determination and biggest list of strange goals I have ever had.

Tomorrow I aim to be able to tick off one I've wanted since I was 16. We'll see...

Do It Anyway...

Happy Birthday Flip.

Happy Birthday Clare.