Gather Up the Pieces....

"Seek progress, not perfection."
- ZA

"Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing may be lost."
- John 6:13

If I were reading something and the author quoted themself, I would think it was pretty lame. It still may be, but the aforementioned quote is what hit me out of the blue today. Previous to today, I've been really frustrated with my progress in the pool. I felt like garbage in the water yesterday, and got a practice ending foot cramp after only 1,000 meters at practice. I left workout yesterday really pissed off, angry that my plans had been ruined.

When I got in the pool today for my lesson, and start actually working on my stroke, it was apparent that I have made a lot of progress over the past 5 years. I looked at the fundamental pieces of my frustration, and felt better about things. With this new approach, I made the following realization about what I need to do: (1) Iron out the kink on my left arm as to prevent injury and ineffeciency, and then (2) When I have achieved this, build an aerobic/workout base in the pool. I think the first piece may take 3 to 6 months. The second one will take maybe 3 to 6 months as well. But that's what I need to do, and I feel better about things.

Back in the day, my tennis coach talked about tennis as "problem solving" or "how to piece your opponent apart." I have a deeper appreciation for what he was talking about now that I have more Life under my belt. In aggregate, things may look absolutely overwhelming. The guy across the net may be a physical monster, with a big serve and imposing presence. But maybe he's a mental midget, or his backhand falls apart after three shots. You never know. Irregardless of the circumstances of a situation, there is always a foothold, some way to make challenging tasks possible.

When I write these things, I think most of the time I am trying either (1) Document stuff so that I don't forget a lesson learned or (2) Remind myself of what I need to do to become the person I want to be. Most of the time my goals are pretty lofty, such that they can only be achieved under ideal circumstances. In the face of such goals/dreams, I can get really pissed off or mentally rattled when things don't go my way. But I think my message for the day relates to most high-achieving people I know. We'll see what the posts look like...

Namaste

Absorption

"Most people fail by never giving themselves a chance to perform. Too much effort, too short a timetable, and a lack of preparation. Short bursts of mis-directed passion -- one night stands with "effort" rather than an extended courtship of "excellence".
- Gordon Byrn, taken from http://www.gordoworld.com/gblog/index.html

Still thinking about what Janet Evans said at the talk I went to on Thursday. Had those ideas bouncing around in my head as I began my CPA study marathon this weekend. I'll take what I call a "brain break" every hour or so, and checked out the aforemtioned blog. BAM! It's funny how this topic came up again today. It's probably because this is the lesson I am working on right now, so I see it in whatever I am reading.

Anyway, I am still struck by the amount of commitment that Janet Evans had to making the Olympics when she was 12. How many of us could make that vow, and back it up the way that she did? I know that I couldn't. I guess that is what makes her unique, a special breed amongst us mere mortals. She swam heavy duty yardage for a consistent period of time under a system that she believed in with a supportive coach and parents. She had the extended courtship with excellence that Mr. Byrn speaks of. So that is where my head is at right now: Absorption. Putting in the time and the attention to critical factors well in advance as to give oneself the optimal possibility for success.

I think why I am into this topic so much is because in the past I would "have one night stands with effort." I'll get excited, get some new training tools, nuke myself, and then get pissed off that I am not getting the results that I think I should. About a year ago I began to work on changing my mind and behavior to take a longer term, and more realistic approach to getting results. I'm usually fighting my initial instint, but I feel that I enjoy the process much more now and have the fundamental building blocks for sustainable success. I'm glad that I am taking this approach to the CPA exam this time, and not cramming all of it into my head on the last weekend. It's hurts enough right now as it is.

The other prong of this message relates to swimming for me. I started working with a new coach on Friday--my previous coach just accepted an assistant coaching position at the University of Auburn. The new coach is an age group coach, and we started out with the absolute fundamentals of freestyle. He had me do drills for most of our time, a little bit of swimming, but clearly articulated what elements I needed to work on to get more efficient.

The funny thing is that I knew each drill he had me do. I've done all of them at some point, but never really mastered any of them. I think this is the fundamental difference between excellence and effort, in knowing something peripherally and absorbing something fully. As a result, when I go to swim today I am going to do maybe a 200 freestyle to warm up, then I am going to hit the drills for an hour plus. I might get some odd looks by the people at the pool, but if I REALLY want to cultivate long-term success, and fully absorb technical changes, this is what I need to do.

A few days ago I spoke with my cousin Maria, and she made the comment "You were a totally different human now than you were even two years ago." I look at the beginnings of this blog and can see how scared and deeply frustrated I was. I've basically spent the past two years getting to the point where I am comfortable admitting that I have weaknesses. Maybe my ego was too frail, or something like that. But I look at where I am now as compared to back then, and I feel like am in a better place to observe myself, not get absolutely pissed off, and figure out how to make the appropriate change. The rub of it is this: even if you can get to this point, it's still pretty hard to change.....

Namaste

Olympic Swimmer Talk - Janet Evans

"People told me my whole life that I wouldn't make the Olympics or be an elite swimmer. Look what happened."
- Janet Evans, 3 time Olympian, Winner of 4 Gold and 1 Silver medal

Last night I went to hear Janet Evans talk at my swim club. Basically it was me, 20 high school swimmers, 50 kids under the age of 12, and a couple coaches. At the beginning of the talk, they played clips of her at the 1999 Summer Olympics. She was 17 at the time, a kid from Southern California taking on the East German swimmers. It was riveting, that trademark stroke with the straight arm recovery just churning through the water and giving these beastial women who are loaded up on steroids and HGH a beat down.

After the video was over--which lasted about 5 minutes--she talked briefly. I guess that she had another engagement to get to so she made some points back to back that were pretty powerful. Here's the summary:

On Being a Champion

Being a champion is not solely about winning, or getting the gold medal. Being a champion is about getting in the pool--or whatever your discipline--working with focus and purpose each day, and putting all your energy into that practice. If you are committed to this process, and practice these fundamentals consistently and with passion, then you will be a champion. Translation: being a champion is more about character than absolute results.

On Failure

At the Barcelona Games in 1992, Janet got out touched in a race that she was supposed to win. She openly admitted that she would have won if she would have listened to her coach, but she didn't. She didn't think that anyone in the world could beat her. But she learned from it, and never made that mistake again. Translation: Everyone is beatable. Never think you are too good not to be beaten or upstaged. This will keep you out of trouble.

On Desire and Goals

At 12 Janet was able to go to the Los Angeles Olympic Games and watch some of the events. She told her parents and her coach afterwards that she wanted to go to the Olympics, and wanted to know what she would have to do to get their. They made a plan, and stuck to it. At 12 she was swimming twice a day--I could be mistaken here but I think she was doing 14,000 meters a day at 12. She treated each practice seriously. She gave everything she had at each practice. Her coach and parents told her that she was capable of whatever she put her mind to and she believed them.

When she was 17 she went to an international swim meet and saw the East German women for the first time. At 17 she was 5 foot 2 inches, and maybe 95 pounds soaking wet--no pun intended. The East German women were like 5 foot 10 inches tall and about 180 pounds. And these women scared the pants off of her. Nonetheless, she beat the tar out of these women at the Olympics.

That's pretty much the high notes of Janet's brief talk. She was extremely personable, and down to Earth. At the same time, you got a sense very quickly that she's not like "normal" people upstairs. Mentally she's a different animal. Not to be trite, but there really isn't much that a person can't do if they set a goal, work with the right people, and work with focus and diligence each day. It's not rocket science, but it ain't easy.

Namaste

Problems...

"Be thankful for what exists within yourself."
- Andre Gide

Came across this quote randomly today while checking my gmail account. It struck a chord. I've spent a lot of time and energy thinking about achieving and doing things that I rarely take stock of the things that I have under my belt. This quote also reminded me of a dose of family wisdom that I first heard when I was a much younger man.

From what I have been told, my mother's mother was a real character. I'd like to say that I knew this first hand, but she passed on when I was 6 or 7 or 8. I do remember that she could cook up a storm, but that's about it. Anyway, Granny used to say something to the effect of, "If you sat down across the table from any other person, and you both put your problems out on the table, you would be the first to take your problems back." Not sure if this is an old German thing, or just something that she came up with on her own, but it's pretty wise. When I look at the problems that I have, I have to conclude that I am extremely fortunate.

Namaste