Discipline: Back in the Saddle Again

Yesterday marked week three of my return to serious bike riding.  I’ve missed riding and between a crazy schedule and the ridiculous heat that has plagued us this summer, I just hadn’t been out much.  In the wake of the Olympics there are no shortage of reminders of the need for physical and mental discipline – so I decided it was time to get back in the saddle again. 

Human beings are very adept at making excuses, and justifying those excuses.  It happens to all of us at one point or another.  The trick is recognizing those times and really trying to push ourselves, either mentally or physically.  Sure we all have real limits, but how often to we actually reach them?  Like everything we must be aware of ourselves and our own real limitations, pushing through the imagined ones.

Discipline, especially the self-imposed variety, is not easy, it’s the very opposite in fact.  Paulo Coelho recognizes and embraces this difficulty in The Alchemist as he reminds readers that whether life, experience, or growth, "It’s real and true, precisely because it’s difficult."

Each of us approaches unique personal challenges along the road, most of which require us to tap previously unrealized levels of discipline. 

“If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do.  The body will always give up.  It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night.  The body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
-General George S. Patton, U.S. Army and 1912 Olympian

I have not written much here about my journey to a healthier lifestyle, but the short version is this:  In 2009 I realized I had reached an all time low, with respect to my body weight.  Out of shape and unhealthy, I decided a changes was no longer a goal, but a necessity.  With the tremendous support of my wife and coach, Katie, our friends and work out buddies Todd and Jenn Huff, Daniel Cook, and the encouragement of many family and friends, I was able to change my diet and begin a work out regimen that ultimately resulted in the loss of 95lbs.  Yes, ultimately I had to be the one to embrace the discipline of working out regularly and eating right -- but it would have been infinitely harder without a great support system.  (Many Thanks.)

There is still a long way to go, and I struggle with temptations to slack, but it gets a little easier every day.  The mental struggle to commit, often must fought in order for the physical to battle to be won.  I recently realized that such wars are never really won, as they are ongoing.  

But I also realized some encouraging things:  We all struggle.  We all try, and fail.   But in the trial and error we learn.  Through the exercise of the struggle, our endurance improves.   We should celebrate these things, because they are indicators of progress and growth.  By fighting the good fight, we ultimately win, even though a blue ribbon is never awarded. 

I leave you with a soundtrack for this post, one of my favorites Back in the Saddle Again, by Aerosmith.

Olympic Fever 2012: Wrap Up

The concluding events of the 30th Olympiad have taken place, and it's worth a moment to stop and reflect on some of the great moments of the last several weeks.

Gabby Douglas - Gold medal winner, both as part of Team USA Gymnastics and as the individual All Around Champion.  I don't claim to understand gymnastics, or the rules that govern the age of these talented competitors, but I hope to see her with Team USA in Rio.

Missy Franklin - The beginning of a very promising career, and a very humble--down to earth young woman.  Several gold medals and a world of possibilities.  She has the potential to be as successful as Phelps, with half the attitude.


Oscar Pistorius - made history as the first physically impaired athlete to compete against able-bodied athletes in an Olympic event.  Given Pistorius' performance, perhaps we all ought to reevaluate the term able-bodied, that man can move.

David Boudia - fellow Hoosier and Boilermaker, won both bronze and gold in the syncro and individual platform diving events respectively.

I would be remiss for not acknowledging Michael Phelps as the all time most decorated Olympic Athlete.  Like him or not, Phelps is talented beyond belief.

Another important acknowledgement belongs to our Hometown Hero, Morgan Uceny - finalist in the 1500m race.  There are a lot of critics of Morgan's performance in the final race, the harshest of which is likely Morgan herself.  After what can only be described as a heartbreaking outcome, she collected herself and left the stadium.  No blame was directed toward the Russian runner who clipped her.  No criticism of her fellow runners who didn't so much as attempt to console her or see if she was injured after the race.  She picked herself up, and moved on.  Regardless of the outcome she remains a world class athlete and a class act.

Despite the tragic results of that race, Morgan has heart.  Following the tragic incidents of the 2011 World Championships, Morgan went on to become the highest ranked woman in the world in the 1500m.  The talent is there.  The heart is there.  Watch out Rio, Morgan's gunning for you.

All in all, the games of the 30th Olympiad left us with great stories of victory and defeat, sweet triumph and the biter reality of loss.  For a few days we witnessed a sense of global unity rarely seen outside of the Olympics.

Finally, on a lighter note a Gold goes to the Team USA Swim Team for their debut in the musical spoof genera.

Discipline: Tuesdays at 10

Even on a team of superheroes there is a weak link.  We know this to be true in many aspects of our modern life.  The idea that, “a chain is no stronger than its weakest link” seems to permeate our cultural psyche.  The Olympics provide a wonderful illustration of this concept, when announcers talk about the weak runners in the 1500m (a metric mile).  Keeping in mind that the weakest time for the Olympic 1500m run averages around 4 min and change.  Even amongst the worlds greatest runners we, as human beings, assign rank and value to performance. 

We do this, consciously and unconsciously, at work and home, in public and private -- all in order to make sense of the world.  People naturally focus on the areas where we perceive the greatest weaknesses in order to build those areas up.  In many circles this practice is seen as improvement or progress. 

At an earlier point in my career I worked with a group that was in the process of becoming a “dream team” of sorts.  As the group shifted and changed over time I won the title of ‘weakest link’ in the eyes of the boss.  It was made pretty clear that while I was doing “a good job,” I could always “do better.”  In her effort to help me we started meeting every Tuesday at 10 a.m.  

I resented these meetings for several of the first weekly sessions.  I saw the sessions as discipline = punishment.  After a time, I realized that my supervisor also saw the sessions as discipline, but she defined discipline as something more.  Discipline has many definitions, here are some of the most common:

1.  punishment
2. a field of study
3. a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity
4. A.)  control gained by enforcing obedience or order; B.) self-control
5. training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. 

As it turns out my boss viewed our sessions as a training opportunity.  Once this came to my attention, I realized I had a choice to make.  I could either see our meetings as a punishment, or embrace them as an opportunity to learn.  I chose to check my pride and embrace the chance to gain knowledge.  It turned out that I learned a great deal, and became a better professional (and perhaps person) for the experience.   On another team, I would have been one of the top performers, but my boss felt that on that particular team I fell back in the pack.

At the end of the day, the fundamental truth stands: you can learn something from every situation.

Sometimes it takes a little longer to see the lesson.  Sometimes extenuating circumstances muddy the water.  Sometimes we’re too emotionally invested in the situation and therefore cannot see the lesson.  But most of the time, a little kernel of truth is floating around in our experiences that can make us better, stronger, faster, smarter -- if we let it.  

Continuing to Learn About Service

Last week I ran across a quote from entertainer, Andy Griffith, that has stuck with me ever since first reading it.  In his characteristically straightforward style Griffith summed up a delightfully compact worldview, in a few short words: "Well, do a good day's work and act like somebody."

That's a pretty simple and yet fundamentally difficult charge, but one that many of us (AmeriCorps Alums, Pumas, and in general people of good will) can easily embrace.  Hard work, service, integrity -- it's all there.

My wife Katie, a fellow AmeriCorps Alum, honorary Puma, wild land firefighter, and all around superhero articulates the benefits of a service mentality in a blog post which first appeared on the AmeriCorps Alums Blog this morning.  Like so many Katie talks about service as journey, not a destination.  Whether formal service or local volunteerism, whether serving family, friends, strangers, pets, or the environment, service matters.

Katie sums the common thread of journey up like this, "no matter where you started out when you joined AmeriCorps, you end up in a similar mindset after serving.  Service becomes a part of your life."

Check out Katie's post and join the conversation (whether your an Alum or not)...How do you serve?

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Olympic Fever: 2012

The 30^th Olympiad is well underway and I must confess, I’m hooked.  Over the past year I can count the number of times I’ve watched TV after work, and it isn’t that many.  But this week every evening has been ended with rebroadcasted viewings of swimming, gymnastics, and other highlights.

Missy Franklin winning gold, Michael Phelps setting a new record for most decorated Olympian, and hopefully a stellar performance from Morgan Ucney in the 1500m later this week – now that’s reality television. 

I’m not an avid sports fanatic, but when it comes to the Olympics I’m hooked.  There is something magical and pure about these athletes competing for the honor of their country. In a way Olympic teams are the non-profits of the athletic world – which has some appeal to me.  Sure it probably doesn’t hurt their careers to be Olympians, but this contest seems to avoid the showboating seen in the “televised league” sports.  (Please note, that I specifically choose not to call the show-boaters “professionals” for a reason.)

Regardless of the outcomes, watching the Olympics has the power to make one believe that it’s possible to be just a little bit better.  It's not logical, but logic can sometimes get in the way.  Our logic is often limited by our own limited experience so growth often requires some elements of belief.  

"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."  Ray Bradbury

I’m not usually a fan of Nike, but their video campaign hits the nail on the head with this one.  The kid in this video (whom I can identify and sympathize with) is working hard.  He's working against logic, and what's easy.  He's working on faith, determination, and the belief that he can be more than he is.  He's digging deep and finding his own greatness.

When was the last time you felt that watching LeBron James?

Olympic 2012 Big Kid Running Video:

http://www.getstoried.com/storytelling-big-hit-olympics/?utm_source=Get+Storied+-+Story+Mojo+E-Newsletter&utm_campaign=9141979000-071612&utm_medium=email