Degrees of Freedom

I was watching the Last Lecture on YouTube this morning. In the talk, Randy Pausch talks about inspiration from achieving our own dreams as well as a shift that can occur when we achieve satisfaction by facilitating the dreams of others.

Somehow, I managed to achieve far more than I ever thought possible. In the times where I failed, or didn't achieve my objective, I learned a lot about myself and the nature of failure.

Whether you read his book, or watch his lecture, it is time well spent. Armed with the knowledge that you have lived well, you can cope with tremendous adversity.

Ultimately, we are all going to deal with our share of challenges (no one gets out alive). The only question is when, and in what form.

I am seeking feedback for a Boulder-based camp this summer. The camp will provide CME, USAT Coaching CEU and an opportunity to learn from coaches/experts in the medical and sports performance fields.

We are also going to do some training and I'll be sharing several of my favorite local sessions.

Drop me a line and I'll send you a short questionnaire so we tailor the camp to your needs. We are looking at July/August and I am aiming for a structure that will keep the price down.

I had a question from an athlete last week where I was asked to explain what I mean when I talk about "out working" my competition. The short answer follows and the long answer is the topic for this week's letter.

What I recommend is you focus on simplifying your life as much as possible. Once your life is simplified, you will be able to see the time that you have to train. You will also increase your ability to recover which will increase your capacity to absorb training.

Out working means (my opinion) long term consistent training load – we achieve load from mixing frequency, duration, intensity. Training needs to balance long term development (3-5 years) with the specific needs of near term (1-2 year) goals. It also needs to be fun (to enhance compliance).

With regard to athletics, we tend to search for the magic training protocol to lead us to success. The trouble is... we are often doomed before we start because the secret isn't knowing the work required, it is creating the capacity, and space, to complete the work.

I have seen this at critical times in my life -- when I want to change, the first step is to create space for a change. Then we need to maintain that space and take incremental steps towards the change that we'd like to invite into our lives. We need to take responsibility for simple daily actions that move us towards the life we want for ourselves.

We tend to think about work in terms of intensity of effort. We always talk about "hard work" and "work ethic". However, the most important component in success is duration of effort.

At times, it can seem like it takes FOREVER to achieve things. However, if we just keep chipping away then over a few years you actually tend to get somewhere!

The best tip that I have ever heard from an elite athlete about his success is Chris McDonald's advice that young pros "sell everything" and "live cheap".

What he is advising is maximum simplicity in your life -- strip everything down to the bone so you can focus entirely on your personal mission.

If you look at the top of most fields, you will see that the high performers follow a similar creed. Their lives are built around a consistent routine of working towards their goals.

Here's a summary of my daily life

• Get up by 7am
• Clear client questions
• Check athlete forums
• Cook lunch for the family
• Get some exercise done
• Writing
• Pre-dinner walk with Monica and Lex
• Clear client questions
• Respond to new business opportunities

Done once, this day will not make an impact on ANY aspect of my life. Repeat this day 1,000x and I am certain that I'll hit my goals in ALL aspects of my life.

The complexity comes from maintaining the space to hit my day.

The difficulty lies in hitting the day repeatedly, not in getting a single day done.

This is the lesson of athletic achievement for our wider lives.

Our governments offer tax incentives (mortgage interest deductions) for home ownership. However, is owning assets a requirement for success? I am sure there are plenty of homeowners in Detroit, MI or Elkhart, IN that wished they had rented.

Freedom of movement is a big asset and that freedom can be limited by home ownership (or even a long lease). In my business and athletic careers, the capacity to jump at an opportunity for promotion and/or education enabled me to learn and succeed quite rapidly. In sport, following the sun enabled me to fit 15+ seasons into a decade of triathlon. In business, being able to shift easily between cities/cultures provided me with opportunities that we not available to my peers.

After spending the last two years evaluating US property opportunities, this is the main reason I haven't pulled the trigger. The economics (at less than $100 per sq ft in some markets) are not compelling enough for me to trade a portion of my financial freedom.

A good quote from my buddy Jeff Shilt...

Unless you have top 1% talent then, by definition, you are going to have to spend your life doing things that the other 99% of the world is not willing to do.

At the highest levels, the top performers quite often have limited ties to family; friends; pets; non-goal related social activities... pretty much everything that's not connected with their definition of success.

Their lives can end up a disaster in a wide sense but satisfying in a narrow sense. Learning the raw reality of our heroes' lives can lead to a fair amount of cognitive dissonance.

Success doesn't always imply satisfaction!

Something I have come to realize is that a single-minded focus can be restrictive in its own sense. There are valuable lessons to be learned from total commitment but "total commitment" may not be an effective long-term lifestyle. But what really is an optimal lifestyle?!

Back next week,
gordo