Hey hey!
We are 11 months in, and one to go before the end of the year. As we gear up to close out the year and begin a new one, now might be a better time to set some goals and all that for the next year. Rather than in one month.
Why? Well, the same principle as “never go grocery shopping when you are hungry.”
You will be harsh on yourself. You will want to do 27 different things and then not put enough effort into them.
Well, at least, that’s me. And so, I am collating my thoughts when I am sensible to chart out goals for next year. I am going grocery shopping with a clear menu and a full stomach.
On to the 3 things for today,
Dogs, and being in the moment. As a reader shared their thoughts on this
“Do we always have to think about the next moment? 🤔
Do we always have to plan for tomorrow? 🤔
Do we always have to worry about a rainy day when the sun is shining bright now? 🤔”3 quotes, featuring an excerpt about the lead-pipe theory of the collapse of Rome, and the lead-pipe theory of modern-day humans.
Solving the maze. Do you remember trying to solve a maze? You start and then you come to a place that forks. You have a choice to make. You make a choice. More forks, more choices. You are deeper into the maze. And then, a dead-end! What do you do, Jack? What do you do?
And if you haven’t watched Speed coz you weren’t born when it came out, I don’t know what to say.
Dogs, and being in the moment
Our dog is pretty darn athletic. She's a mutt of some kind. And she has very few modes in her.
When it is time to chill, she's chilling. She chills a lot. She has 17 different spots with various levels of firmness and softness of surface to chill and lounge, based on her mood.
When it is time to play, she's nuts. She is on fire. She sprints and jumps and dashes all over the place, occasionally nipping at our ankles. When she plays with her friends too, the same. Ballistic. And then a brief 10-second breather, and then back at it again. Perfect high-intensity intervals.
When it is time to eat, there are no other thoughts in her head. She gets her chow done and immediately finds a comfortable spot to lounge and chill and keep an eye on us.
And when she wants to be petted, oh boy, is she stubborn and cute!
Dogs live in the moment.
When you are at the gym, lift heavy. And focus on your lifts.
When you are eating, focus on chewing, and eating slowly.
When you are sleeping, put away the darn devices and shut up and sleep.
Keep your mind on the thing you are doing. It is that simple.
I struggle with this. When I am watching a game, I am also pretending to be the coach. When I am training, I am also the world's greatest critic. But when I catch myself and chant my magic words and shut up and focus, the experience is completely changed.
Do it! You know I am right.
3 quotes
The ancient Romans built elaborate networks of pipes to deliver water where they wanted it to go. The networks were a marvel. But many of the pipes were made of lead, and the water carried the lead along with it.
One school of thought regards this as part of the reason for the decline and fall of Rome : lead poisoning gradually took its toll, impairing the thought and judgment of many Romans, especially at the top.
The theory is much disputed; perhaps it contains no truth. But as a metaphor it is irresistible.
We have built networks for the delivery of information – the internet, and especially social media. These networks, too, are a marvel. But they also carry a kind of poison with them.
The mind fed from those sources learns to subsist happily on quick reactions, easy certainties, one-liners, and rage. It craves confirmation and resents contradiction.
Attention spans collapse; imbecility propagates, then seems normal, then is celebrated. The capacity for rational discourse between people who disagree gradually rots.
I have a good deal more confidence in the lead-pipe theory of the internet, and its effect on our culture, than in the lead-pipe theory of the fall of Rome.
– Ward Farnsworth, from The Socratic Method
Yes, I know that's a long one (the extra line breaks are me, not in the original. I did that to aid reading). But I loved the metaphor and had to put it over here as food for thought.
While a lead-pipe will always carry lead, how we use the lead-pipe of social media is up to us.
"Do you have a favourite saying?" asked the boy.
"Yes" said the mole.
"What is it?"
"If at first you don't succeed, have some cake."
"I see, does it work?"
"Every time."
– Charlie Mackesy, from The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
I adore this book. It is a great book for kids, I think. It is definitely a great book for adults.
Experiencing is believing – A fat belly cannot believe that such a thing as hunger exists.
– Bruce Lee
Get into a plank. Now, get your right foot just outside your right palm. We call this a groiner. I always thought the sole purpose of this move was to help open up the back hip. Until I got injured and could not walk or move for a month. And then when I tried to do this, I realised I couldn't bring my right foot outside my right palm. Ahhh, so these are all the muscles we are using. It was a light-bulb moment for me and one that heavily impacted my (future) coaching as I realised what a student goes through when they start off.
Solving the maze
Do you remember trying to solve a maze? You know, the ones that come in puzzle books and newspapers? You start and then you come to a place that forks. You have a choice to make. You make a choice and go further into the maze. More forks, more choices. You are deeper into the maze. And then, a dead-end!
What do you do? Simple. You retrace your path to the last fork you took, and make the other choice. If that's a dead-end, same deal. Re-trace to an even earlier choice.
Solving your health and fitness is not your typical "solve it once and you are done" kinda thing. When you decide to work on it, outside help gives you shortcuts and clues but it comes down to you making choices. You need to make choices that work for you. What is a dead-end for your friend might be the breakthrough for you. And vice-versa.
What worked today might not work for you in a few years. Because you are not the same person, and neither are your circumstances.
When you solve a maze, there's immediately the start of a new one - at the centre. At the solution.
The shortcut to solving a maze is to start from the solution and work your way back to the start. You make lesser, if at all any, mistakes and find your way to the goal.
You can apply that metaphor in two ways.
One, visualise yourself at your endpoint. Let's say it is you losing 10 kilos or deadlifting double bodyweight or whatever it is you fancy. What does your current day and week look like? That's the solution to your maze. Now, you need to emulate the steps to your solution until you get to the solution.
Two, you apply your learnings from solving this maze to your next maze. The next one is not more complex, but it could be. It sometimes is, it sometimes is not. But you know how to solve a maze. You know what all it entails - experiments, making choices, learning, going back to a previous fork, and all the time making one step forward in the direction you've chosen.
When you stop trying to solve the problem with finality, things get much simpler.
When you realise this is a never-ending game and love it for that precise nature, you are halfway close to winning.
After solving the current maze, the next maze is the reward, it is the challenge, it is the way of life. Expect it. Look forward to it.
And remember, you will always find yourself at a dead-end, sooner or later. That's fine. Go back to the previous step and make a different choice.
Begin again!
Thanks for reading/listening! I truly appreciate it.
If you enjoy my writing and think it would be useful for someone on their journey, do spread the word to that one person.
