Comment on Blog

From time to time, I will take comments buried deep within my blog, and include them here. Here is a recent comment that you may not have seen.

“How our perspectives get elevated in accordance with our inflation in life experience, external events and thus expectations. We get moulded, bullied and branded everyday into beliefs, popular opinion and attitude which engulf our individual spirits wave after wave. I often feel typhooned by the current climate and culture immediate to me. That is to say, laziness, ineptness, a restraint for anything self sacrificial, self analytical (introspective), innovative creativity, exploration and a culture shaped by convenience.

“I feel out of place because my attitude stems from wanting to rise to the top through unorthodox methods – meeting and knowing people. Human character and the person behind the letters and degrees to their name. I am a great believer in networking and that we are all within a nexus of humanity – of which can be contacted behind all types of masks and protrusions that protect the inner sanctum of our souls and mettle.

“I could say much more, but what I basically mean is that by Goal free living and slowing my life down in accordance with my current environment and a whole lot more, I have been able to cope with myself and my environment.”

You can find the original blog entry, and the full comment here

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Go 95%; Achieve Optimal Performance

I just read a blog entry on CanOWorms that discusses the concept of 95% perfection. The general idea is that in sports, we achieve optimal performance when we put 95% effort into what we do. My own experiences — personal and professional — support this premise.

A few years ago, I worked with a Formula One team (auto racing). Their pit crews have long been admired for their ability to fuel a car, change the tires (back before rule changes that disallowed tire changes during refueling), and do the required maintenance in a matter of seconds. There are 19 people in a pit crew. To find the optimal configuration of the team, they move each of the crew members around until they get the best combination. And then they practice more. All of this is under while being measured with a stop watch. Eventually the team can go no faster; they hit a performance plateau no matter how hard they try. Once, as an experiment, the pit crew members were told that they were NOT going to be timed; that they should just go as fast as possible without going full out (95%?). The result? The pit crew shaved several tenths of a second off their best time – although pit crew members “felt” that they went slower.

When we remove the time pressures of traditional goals and the mental pressure to go full out (100%), our efforts flow more effortlessly and we perform at optimum levels. Whether it be in sports or in life, when we play, have fun, and allow life to unfold naturally – rather than forcing it – we operate at a higher level of performance AND do it with greater ease.

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The Road Less Traveled

I was saddened to learn that M. Scott Peck, the psychiatrist and author of “The Road Less Traveled”, passed away this past week. I remember reading the book many years ago when I was at a cross-roads in my life. The book was insightful and packed with content. Certainly no fluff!

And that no fluff approach was consistent with his message. The book focused on Dr. Peck’s core belief that, as he stated in its opening sentence, “Life is difficult,” and that its problems can be addressed only through self-discipline.

As I have traveled my road less traveled, I have found a different path through life. I believe that the way in which you view the world is how you live. And I believe that life is easy; we only find ways to make it difficult. As per an earlier post of mine, “Discipline is not always the answer. Sometimes you need to find a passion that will pull you off of the sofa.”

I have tremendous respect for Dr. Peck’s work. I whole-heartedly recommend his book. And I hope he would agree that each person has their own path through life. For many, discipline, plans, and goals are that path. For others, like myself, the path of experiential living and joy is the road to travel.

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Not-To-Do-Lists

In Goal-Free Living, you will read about an alternative approach to the “to-do” list: the “could do” list.

Here is a link to another interesting alternative: the “not to do” list.

Following just a few of these may save you lots of time — allowing you to pursue endeavors of even greater pleasure. Admittedly, I am guilty of doing many of the items on the “not to do” list. In fact in writing this entry, I violated one: “Do not post to your blog.”

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Quote of the Day

From a button I purchased in a store in California — “I used to DREAM of making the salary I’m now STARVING on.”

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