Month: March 2019

Step up your performance.

“Don’t lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality.”
–Ralph Marston

I see this a lot in higher education. We are trending toward lower standard to raise our success rate. The only way, however, to drive success is to raise the bar of expectation. I prefer the exercise physiology term, “overload”. We have to do more than that to which we are accustomed. Thus, we need to raise expectations. The key in succeeding to a higher standard is doing “what is necessary to make it a reality.” What is necessary is quite individualized. (And, just for the record, the key to success is not buying access to opportunity. It takes personal effort.)

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Losing my religion.

The title of the R.E.M. song, “Losing My Religion”, has been coming to mind quite often lately—especially as I sit in Sunday morning church services. I looked up the lyrics and the meaning behind the song and learned that “losing my religion” is a Southern phrase for being at one’s wit’s end. It about losing one’s temper rather than losing one’s faith. It actually suits my mood.

My faith has grown over the decades—particularly the last 30 years of my life. In the process, however, my faith in religion has struggled. I think this is the case for many. Unfortunately, for many “losing my religion” means throwing out the baby with the bathwater. (The Jesus pun was unintended, but I like it.)

Mega-churches are so big they have to encourage “small groups” to have “community”. Music and light shows feel more like a (bad) rock concert. Sermons are more about entertainment than conviction. My list of complaints can go on, but complaining is useless without providing solutions. I don’t have a solution to my church problem. I can keep church-hopping, but, frankly, it is as effective as fad dieting. There is, for me, only one option: be less of a “Christian” and more like Jesus.

Jesus didn’t come to start a mega-church—or a small-group church, for that matter. Rather, he came to start a human revolution—to change how we live for others.

If you are like me, join me in focus on being my best today and being better tomorrow. Avoid the tendency for religion to be emotionally-based. Focus on the Spiritual dimension of faith—being other-centered. Don’t think of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) as a “gift”. Rather, treat them as fruit—something to be cultivated and nurtured. Cultivate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Note that few of these are “feel good” blessings. They are other-centered actions.

I am fine with losing my religion if it means I can better love my neighbor and be more impactive in an increasingly troubled world. I want to change. I don’t necessarily want to walk away from church “feeling good”. I am at the point where I want to walk away feeling that my soul has been pierced. I’ve said it before but church should “disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed”. I like it that way.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Be your best today.

We often waste time trying to live up to someone else’s potential or view of success. There is a reason we are all so different. The world needs our uniqueness. We are not born, however, at our true potential.

I have grown (pun intended) to prefer to view growth and potential using asymptotes (remember learning about a curve that approaches a line, but never reaches, as it approaches infinity?). Our growth—Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social—is like this. Or, rather, it should be like this. We have an inherent “potential” (call it “Purpose” in the collective sense) that is unique—individualized—that we should be growing toward. This growth is constant (kaizen) and never fully achieved.

Unfortunately, we tend to measure ourselves against another’s asymptote which leaves us unsatisfied and ordinary. We also determine that we should be on the same timeline for growth as another. Worse yet, we tend to put others (especially our children) on our timeline. We grow at our own rate. Don’t worry if it is slower than others.

Progress needs to be measured with the right yardstick. In research methods, we refer to this as validity. More importantly it has to be measured against the right target. I know I am mixing metaphors a bit here. (Forgive me Mrs. Moore.) Asymptotes. Targets. Yardsticks. Kaizen. Growth. These do have something in common—you/me. In exercise science, we refer to the principle of individuality.

Growth should be measured according to a target with an ever-shrinking bulls-eye. Today has its target. We aim to get close to the center. We may with effort hit the bulls-eye, but we never hit the perfect center. As well, the bulls-eye must be smaller tomorrow—if not there is no measurable growth.

If I do life well today, there is always something I can do better tomorrow. In some things, we will see tremendous and rapid growth. In other things, growth will be small and slow—but it is still growth. Our focus should be on the areas of our lives in which we have the greatest potential for growth. We don’t neglect or ignore the other areas. Rather we seek to be balanced and ever-growing toward our Purpose—be it extraordinary or (extra)ordinary.

Life is not a competition to be the best. Rather, it is an opportunity to be our best. Compare yourself against your personal asymptotes, not your neighbors. It is far more rewarding and productive.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Finding your 4-minute mile.

“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.”

–Roger Bannister

We all have it within ourselves—to do something grander than we are currently doing. What exactly? That is our purpose to discover. Whatever it is, it is not likely to come from our current effort.

What I love about the Roger Bannister story is not that he did the “impossible”. He merely did the (im)possible first. Now, it is not unusual to hear of even high school students approaching the 4-minute mile. Bannister simply pushed through the pain to do something (extra)ordinary.

We, too, can find our “impossible”. It requires only that we take our own inherent giftedness and push it through the “pain”.

Growth—and thus achievement—requires effort. It requires that we go beyond uncomfortable to do what we are capable of doing. Success require the dismissal of “Can’t” and the commitment to “Will”.

I have to remind myself daily of these things. The drive to do the (extra)ordinary is not natural. We are wired physiologically for survival—for self-preservation. Pain is a perception of the mind. Thus, it is our mind that decides how to respond. Pain is a warning. It suggests that we take the protective course of action, but it is nothing more than a set-point. Every time we effort through the pain, we increase the threshold. We adapt to a higher level of performance.

No matter one’s age or status in life, there is opportunity to grow. Go. Run your “4-minute mile”!

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Why you started.

We often hear things like: “When you think about quitting, remember why you started.” This is helpful when one is struggling and is considering quitting, and, sometimes, it is good advice. Sometimes, however, it is not.

I think the advice to “remember why you started” may have its greatest impact for the person who is seeing success and/or is continuing down the current path. In other words, we need to be reminded from time to time to keep the passion alive in what we are doing. Otherwise, it is easy to fall into a routine. I follow cycles of this as a college professor. Thus, it is an almost daily process of reminding myself to “leave it all in this room”.

It is easy to be ordinary. It takes extraordinary effort to be (extra)ordinary. Without passion, we fall to being “ordinary”, grow bored, and stop putting in the effort.

We are called to do great things. Our greatness may not be on the national or international stage, but we are not without purpose. Our greatness, no matter the scale, does not go unnoticed.

Remembering why we started renews our enthusiasm. It reminds us to:

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

If it ain’t broke.

Prehabilitation is a newly popular term in fitness. In theory, it is an important consideration. It is, however, overdone.

Prehabilitation is the application of exercises intended to prevent injury. This is, of course, wise at the start of any exercise program. It should not, however, be the dominant element of a training program. Remember: “opportunity costs”.

Prehabilitation should focus on areas of weakness and potential areas of weakness (that is, areas likely to be injured. Years ago, one of my mentors was a teacher/coach named Dave Goethals. His Badminton class was affectionately known as “Conditioning with a Racquet” by the students. He included hip and rotator cuff conditioning in all of his teaching and coaching. It showed in the performances of his athletes—injury was a rarity. These areas—the hips and shoulders—are the key links in sports and human performance. It is the hips, for example, that are the key to preventing ACL tears (the often career-ending knee injury). Another key area for prehabilitation is the “core”—the abdominals (all of the abdominals, not just the showy rectus abdominus) and the critical support muscles of the spine.

Once these muscles are sufficiently strong, the focus should shift to strengthening the larger muscles and performing the stronger lifts (e.g., squats, deadlifts, bench, rows, presses, and their variations). Progress is otherwise hindered by spending a disproportionate amount of time of the nonessentials.

If just beginning an exercise program, one is wise to spend some time on mobility and stabilizer exercises—e.g., stretching, rotator cuff, 4-way hip, core, and balance exercises. Along with these a greater emphasis will be on mastering the technique of the core exercises. After an appropriate amount of time (perhaps not more than 4-6 weeks), the primary emphasis should shift to strength building. Over time, the “prehabilitation” can be revisited during periods of deloading or be cycled in as a part of a periodization plan (the cycling of the exercise plan over time to capitalize of elements of specificity).

A better overall term for prehabilitation, used in strength and conditioning, is “general physical preparedness” (GPP). GPP emphasizes the overall benefits for pre-conditioning the physiological systems (i.e., health-related and motor skill-related components of physical fitness and performance) for later “specific physical preparedness” (SPP). GPP is the foundation, not the building blocks. Likewise, prehabilitation is a foundation. As a foundation, it requires maintenance, but it should not take away from the building of the structure (SPP).

Our goal in exercise should be to improve performance. (“Exercise” is, afterall, defined as physical activity that is performed for the purposes of improving one’s health, physical performance, and/or appearance.) One cannot begin to improve until one begins to emphasize progression.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Predictable luck.

“I’ve found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.”
–Brian Tracy

Personally, I don’t put much stock in “luck”. I more likely to believe that success occurs when opportunity and effort meet. Many have said that luck is a matter of opportunity and preparation meeting, but sometimes opportunity comes to us when we are unprepared. Without effort, though, opportunity quickly passes through our grasp.

One might win the lottery, but, without proper financial planning and management, it is likely to end in disaster. Luck?

One may “choose” his parents wisely, but all the genes and privilege is of diminished worth without effort. Conversely, one may have chosen less privileged circumstances. Call one “lucky” and the other “unlucky”? Success requires effort. One just has more room to fail and the other to succeed.

I like the “parable of the talents” in the bible (Matthew 25:14-30). The point is not what we start with. The point is what we do with what we are given. “Luck marches with those who give their very best” (H. Jackson Brown, Jr.). I don’t doubt that each of us has the potential to be (extra)ordinary. Circumstance has prepared us as such. Claim your “luck”.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Bridges

“Whenever I think of the past, it brings back so many memories.”
–Steven Wright

The last week has stirred up a lot of old memories (for many of my friends, as well as myself). It is nice to look back from time to time—even if in times of sorrow. We can’t spend too much time looking back though. We must let the past inspire us to a better present and a much better future. We must view the past with gratitude and the future with hope.

“Keep all special thoughts and memories for lifetimes to come. Share these keepsakes with others to inspire hope and build from the past, which can bridge to the future.”

–Mattie Stepanek

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!