Year: 2011

If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers

Live & Learn34 Comments

“Study Hacks” answers the question “Why elite players are better than the average players?” in his post titled “If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers.”  Interesting conclusions…

  1. The obvious guess is that the elite players are more dedicated to their craft. That is, they’re willing to put in the long,Tiger Mom-style hours required to get good, while the average players are off goofing around and enjoying life.  The data, as it turns out, had a different story to tell…The time diaries revealed that both groups spent, on average, the same number of hours on music per week (around 50).
  2. The difference was in how they spent this time. The elite players were spending almost three times more hours than the average players on deliberate practice — the uncomfortable, methodical work of stretching your ability.
  3. But the researchers weren’t done.  They also studied how the students scheduled their work. The average players, they discovered, spread their work throughout the day.  The elite players, by contrast, consolidated their work into two well-defined periods…one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
  4. The researchers asked the players to estimate how much time they dedicated each week to leisure activities — an important indicator of their subjective feeling of relaxation. By this metric, the elite players were significantly more relaxed than the average players, and the best of the best were the most relaxed of all…furthemore, the elite players slept an hour more per night than the average players.
  5. The average players are working just as many hours as the elite players but they are not dedicated these hours to the right type of work.  And furthermore, they spread this work haphazardly through the day.  So even though they’re not doing more work than the elite players, they end up sleeping less and feeling more stressed. Not to mention that they remain worse at the violin.
  6. This analysis leads to an important conclusion… if your goal is to build a remarkable life, then busyness and exhaustion should be your enemy. If you’re chronically stressed and up late working, you’re doing something wrong. You’re the average player…not the elite. You’ve built a life around hard to do work, not hard work.
  7. The solution suggested by this research, as well as my own, is as simple as it is startling: Do less. But do what you do with complete and hard focus. Then when you’re done be done, and go enjoy the rest of the day.

Image: Frenetic Wallpaper at Layoutsparks.com

Easing into Friday Night…with Diana Krall

Live & Learn2 Comments

Tune into a Canadian’s blog and you’ll eventually be subjected to a post on famous Canadian artists. Diana Krall was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia.  Krall sold more the 15,000,000 albums worldwide, more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 90’s and 2000’s.  She’s won three Grammy Awards and eight Juno’s.  And per Wiki, she is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debuting at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums. 

After a long week, it’s time to slow the pulse rate, close your eyes and have Diana serenade you with a beautiful Joni Mitchell composition: “A Case of You.”

Gadget Man Takes Inventory. Men and their Toys.

Live & Learn4 Comments

I was in South Florida this week on a business trip. I’m dragging my wheeled carry-on through the airport. And lugging my briefcase in the other hand – puzzled why it seemed to be so heavy. After unraveling a snarl of cords and cables in my bag on the flight (with accompanying 4 letter encouraging words), I committed to take inventory. Enough is ENOUGH. Once I arrived at home non-essentials were to go. So, tonight is take-briefcase-inventory night. (Insomnia raging). Excluding my business files and paperwork, here are the “electronics” in my briefcase:

  1. HP Calculator.
  2. Blackberry.
  3. Blackberry Power cord.
  4. SecurID password generator
  5. Laptop.
  6. Laptop Power Cord.
  7. Laptop Wireless Card.
  8. Laptop Back-up Battery
  9. iPhone
  10. iPad/Iphone Ear Buds.
  11. iPad.
  12. iPad Portable Keyboard
  13. iPhone/Ipad Power Cord.
  14. Flash Drive.

I even shocked myself. One has to ask, WHERE IS THE (MY) SANITY.

Oh yeah, as an aside, I forgot to mention 1 other gadget I missed on the list above. For this Florida trip, I bought a new Bose Bluetooth Headset Series 2. What an amazing piece of electronic equipment! The controls are simple. (I didn’t even open the manual). It pairs quickly to my Blackberry and my iPhone. The volume adjusts automatically as external noise levels change allowing you to hear callers better and for callers to hear you better. The bluetooth pairs to my iPhone music automatically. It is feather-light – 0.5 ounces – that’s right 1/2 of an ounce. And the earpiece magically stays in your ear and without irritation. And the damn thing works as advertised – on train, on plane, in car and in the wind. Expensive, yes, very. But, it has become my new indispensable electronic toy.

So, back to the bag cleaning. I put the Bose headset in my ear – it snapped to attention pairing to Bob Seger & Night Moves on the iPhone.

I then stared down at all the electronics inventory that I pulled out of may bag.

Conclusion. I need ALL of my gear. We’ll rationalize the inventory another day. No need to rush into these things. Just sayin’

Bedtime…

25 Blogs Guaranteed to Make You Smarter…

Live & Learn1 Comment

Kurt Harden’s CulturalOffering.com has been on my Blog Honor Roll list from inception. One day an inspiration. Another day a learning opportunity. A third day a bright light. And he’s done it again for me with his list of Top 25 Blogs Guaranteed to Make You Smarter. Thank you…

Source: Cultural Offering – 25 Blogs Guaranteed to Make You Smarter

“Habit keeps resistance from raising its ugly head and starting to talk me into sluffing off…”

Live & LearnLeave a comment

Steven Pressfield republished his March 31, 2010 post this week.  It’s titled “Habit” and it’s worth reading from end to end.  He kicks it off with a memorable story on a pet goose and two generations of offspring and their particular compulsive habit.  (I won’t give it up here.)  Some memorable passages that followed the story include:

  • “Habit can be a mighty ally in the day-to-day struggle against Resistance.”
  • “We usually think of habits as bad. A drug habit, an alcohol habit. But habits can be tremendously positive too. The habit of going to the gym, of meditating, of daily visiting someone who could use a little kindly attention.”
  • “What I’m trying to do, myself, day-by-day in my professional regimen, is to reinforce the habit of a regular work schedule. I don’t succeed all the time. Days definitely get away from me. But the goal never changes and I never let up. I want to build a groove, I want to establish a positive, momentum-generating pattern.”
  • “Why? Because habit eliminates thought. Negative, Resistance-spawned thought. If I’m a ballet dancer and I make it my business to take class every morning, habit will compel me to get ready mentally the night before. When morning comes and it’s time for class, habit makes me grab my gym bag without thinking about it, throw in my sweats, my shoes, my Evian water.”
  • “Habit keeps Resistance from raising its ugly head and starting to talk me into sluffing off. Before I know it, I’m out the door and on my way to class.”
  • “Habit builds up energy over time. The repetition of any action–good or evil–generates power. Energy concentrates and accumulates. Bad habits become harder to break. But good habits do too.”
  • “The goal is habit-inculcation to overcome Resistance.”

Source: Steven Pressfield: Habit.  Image: Haniyateen