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
- 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
posted by Zen_Accountant at 10:55 AM
<< Home