Five Life Lessons

The Quote:

No one can build you the bridge, and only you, must cross the river of life. There may be countless trails and bridges and demigods who would gladly carry you across; but only at the price of pawning and forgoing yourself. There is one path in the world that none can walk but you. Where does it lead? Don’t ask, walk! . . . It is . . . an agonizing, hazardous undertaking thus to dig into oneself, to climb down roughly and directly into the tunnels of one’s being”. Friedrich Nietzsche

The Action:

This past week has been a tough week. Back from the mountains, away from the mountains. Immersed into the complexity of society, relationships, accountability to the system. The continual obligation to feed the system with my energy, time and resources. My focus, and obligation, though by choice.

The continual lessons presented relentlessly, if I am open, awake, conscious and aware. Otherwise sleep walking, head down, heart closed, eyes shut, mind whirling with continuous thoughts, though not consciously connected to purpose, passion, my path.

What have I learned this week, post mountains. Starting to see with more clarity, certainty, five truths in my life.

1. Only focus on what I can control. My thoughts, actions, attitude and effort, let the rest go.

2. The only way to do anything, is the way I do everything. To the best of my ability, to be impeccable, act as if someone is always watching.

3. Always have integrity to your soul purpose. Never compromise your soul for someone or something else.

4. Always take the hard choice, the difficult choice. It is in the stretch and the challenge, where the growth lives.

5. Leverage myself everyday - 1% better, push further, dig that little bit deeper, be constantly moving towards growth, and personal evolution.

The Book: The Tools - Transform Your Problems into Courage, Confidence, and Creativity. Phil Stutz & Barry Michels

This was a reread from 2015. Always so interesting to me, how a book changes directly in relation to how much I change. I am a highlighter reader kinda guy, yellow is the best in my opinion! I noticed that quite a number of my highlights no longer resonated, as I reflected on the impact that this book originally had on myself.

A simple strategy for change, and as many things, if one can build the muscle of action into the awareness of knowing what must be done. I liked the fact that the focus is on the present moment, and what can be done now, to facilitate change. It is not a continually rooting around in the past, and the influences that are now long gone, though we still carry the residue of that shaping.

I particularly enjoyed Chapter four “Inner Authority”, and the exploration of the Shadow, and the influence that aspect of ourselves has in our lives on a daily basis. Very insightful, and helpful. Read 4/5

The Inner Kingdom

Quote: “Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change any instant”. Viktor Frankl

The Experiment: Relentless discipline.

What do I mean by relentless discipline? The experiment this week, has been to continually make the hard choice, in everything, work, play, relationship, self. It is continually arriving at the crossroads of choice. The choice always seems to be distilled to the essence of “moving towards pleasure, and moving away from pain”.

The pleasure of going for a walk with the dogs, not sitting at the computer and setting myself up for the following week through preparation. When on a ride, not pushing for the full minute interval sprint, and cutting it short at fifty seconds. Not doing the home gym routine first thing, and I will do it later type of mindset.

What I have noticed is that it is an accumulation of the constant small choices, moment by moment, that all add up, as to whether I won or lost the day, to moving towards or away from my goals and ambitions in life.

This has taken constant discipline to build in the pause, prior to each decision. The pause to reflect on whether I am making the hard choice, moving me forward, or the easy comfortable choice, no movement, complacency. It is always readily apparent which choice I am making, as long as I create that space to evaluate my thought process and motivations.

If it doesn’t make me uncomfortable inside, and create some initial resistance, then it is probably not the hard choice, that is going to move me forward. If I feel a sense of ease and status quo, then that’s what I get in return complacency and comfort, and no growth.

The key to all of this is discipline. The discipline to create the space or the pause., before deciding. The discipline to be always moving forward by stepping out of the comfort zones of complacency and the familiar. The discipline to play the long game, and not the short. The discipline to get up early in the morning, and win the morning - meditation, exercise, dog time, a healthy breakfast, and a cold shower to wipe away the fog.

Discipline I have found in my life is a powerful tool to move forward towards the reality of the life that you want for yourself. The catch however, is that to have discipline, takes discipline, and it is a process that needs to be constantly practiced in one’s life, to reap the reward.

The Book:

“The Obstacle Is The Way”. Ryan Holiday

A definite game changer in my life. One of the most profound lessons I have taken from this book is that for every challenge in life, there is an opportunity. Once again it takes the discipline to look at adversity as an opportunity for change, and ultimately growth.

This book is deeply grounded in Stoic philosophy, primarily Marcuc Aurelius, and presents an opportunity to see life through the lens that everything that challenges us, presents an equal opportunity for growth.

An easy read, and the book also has a great feel to it, based on it’s compact size, making it very portable. I have read this book numerous times now, and expect that I will continue to do for many years.

5/5

Let Your Life Speak by Your Action

The Quote “Work until you no longer have to introduce yourself”. (not sure of the author)

The Experiment

This week is about supplements. Do they work? I guess that depends. The mind is incredibly powerful as we know.

What works for us, to a large extent depends on what we believe. Do we believe that it is working, and why or why not? Maybe for example I went for a ride, and it was a great ride, and prior to that ride I had eaten a banana smothered in peanut butter (which I do, or a plantain). I would probably be more inclined to think that the pre ride banana and peanut butter worked. Next ride I would be inclined to repeat the behaviour, hoping to repeat the results, better performance, don’t mess with the juju!

So I have been experimenting this week with Carnitine. Why the heck am I experimenting with this? Well to be truthful I discovered it about a year ago, tried it for awhile, and then forgot about it, now I am back.

Carnitine is a naturally occurring amino acid that is often used for weight loss, and also as energy. Carnitine produces energy by transporting fatty acids into your cells mitochondria. The mitochondria then act like engines within your cells, burning these fats to create usable energy. And we all want more energy when working hard.

Carnitine is also suppose to help with recovery, increase stamina, and reduce soreness. I was primarily interested in the ability to push my self harder, and recover faster, as I am not as young as I once was, and every bit helps. What have I found?

So far so good, I agree with all of the above, though it does make me a little light headed at times. Perhaps the associated reduction in blood pressure. In smaller doses it appears that there are no side effects. I have noticed the ability to push harder when riding my biker, with more sustained output, though on other days, not true, even though I have taken the supplement. I have also noticed I am way less sore, and stiff. I would say this is the biggest awareness that I have noticed while taking the carnitine.

Would I suggest anybody try it? it depends. Do your research, have an understanding of your current health and fitness, and make the decision for yourself based on the risk. There is always a risk with everything, and each of us needs to decide whether the potential gains offsets the costs, long or short term. So far, I will most likely continue, though not for long term, as it feels sort of weird for some reason.

The Book - The Pocket Guide to Action - Kyle Eschenroeder

Love it! Small compact in size and packs a punch. Reminds me of the Steven Pressfield ,and The War of Art. Short tight quotes, reflections, and calls to action. Easy to grab when you are feeling the need for some motivation and insight - open it up, anywhere, and there is usually an appropriate reflection and insight.

5/5

Caffeine - what a drug

The Quote

“May your coffee be strong, and your Monday be short” Anonymous

The Experiment

So I have been experimenting these past few weeks with the legal wonder drug of caffeine, within the context of high output physical activity, mostly aerobic, though with some moments of intense anaerobic stress, on my bike.

First off I need to mention that I am a caffeine addict, and I take full responsibility for this. Often the night before, as I am lying in bed, I am fantasizing about that first cup of coffee in the morning. The ritual, the process, the smell, the taste and the mood adjustment, that almost has me salivating and potentially drooling on the pillow with anticipation. Even as I write these words, I can feel the visceral response in my body.

My curiosity though was more in respect to athletic enhancement, does it, will it, how much, when, how often and why? As everything, there is no specific formula for all of us, it is a process of trial and error to see what for you. It works for me.

The ritual. Pre ride expresso shot, 15 minutes before, as I get ready. Two full water bottles, one with an electrolyte supplement, the other a caffeine based energy blend. I go back and forth between the two during the ride. About an hour in, usually an energy jell, caffeine based, and sometimes another, based on the length of the ride.

Personal results. Allows me to push through the lactic burns more effectively, more sustained high output energy levels, and enhanced cognitive distancing (probably due to all the milligrams of caffeine pumping through my body), followed by post ride water hydration. Sometimes I crash physically hard post ride, sometimes not, no consistency on this one at all.

The Book - Caffeinated by Murray Carpenter

With putting this much caffeine into my body I wanted to have a better idea of the effects, research on caffeine, side effects and anything else that might be useful on my caffeine quest.

I learned a lot from this book, some I already knew, and some that challenged conventionality and what I thought I knew. That there is synthetic caffeine and real. One derived in factories, often in China, the other plant based. The size and scope of the industry, and our addiction as a society, my addiction on a personal level.

A very interesting read. Reads more like a thriller, with lots of caffeine gems along the way. I feel much informed, know what to look for in my caffeine supplementation, and that like everything moderation seems to be a good strategy, except when you want to go fast… 4.5 / 5 a few dry spots along the way.

Monday Matters - The Mind

“He who knows how to suffer suffers less”. Paul Dubois

This week I have been experimenting with “cognitive distancing”. It is a very interesting concept to me, with the base premise being that “it is not events that upset us but our judgements about events”.

I have been experimenting with this, within the context of physical and mental pain. The physical pain of riding my bike with others who are faster, stronger and fitter, and pushing hard to keep up. This often puts me in a place of where I am perceiving pain on a physical level, at least from the perspective of my judgements about the sensations in my body, from the position of my “mind”. My mind often telling me too much, it hurts, stop, ease off, or quit.

Practicing from a cognitive distancing approach, I have been experimenting with separating my mind from the physical discomfort. One of the methods that I have been using with some success, is holding the image of a candle flame within my minds eye. If I can hold the flame perfectly still within my mind, I find myself removed from my bodily pain, and being able to look at the sensations of discomfort from a point of view that “this too will pass”. So far I seem to be having some success.

Book of the week

How To Think Like A Roman Emperor - Donald Robertson

A very interesting read on Stoic philosophy, and how the stoics where in many ways the original cognitive behavioural therapists. I found the book very engaging on many levels, its discussion of stoicism, practical tools and techniques to incorporate stoicism into ones life, and a practicality with Robertson’s explanations and examples. I have read many books on stoicism, not always finishing them, as the material was rather dry.

Robertson uses Marcus Aurelius to carry his story, and does this very effectively, by using examples and circumstances from Marcus’s life, his teachers and the inner musings of Marcus on life, death, and building character.

Rating 4.5 / 5 there were a few places where the book got a little dry, but overall an excellent read.