Life and Goals...
In my life I have found that there are some simple rules that aid in achieving goals....
Give a little, get a lot.
There is a Correlation between sacrifice and achievement.
There is more to setting a goal than just setting a goal.
and
Attendance; there is more to achievement than attendance, but attendance counts for a great deal.
There are not shortcuts; Cheaters cheat themselves.
Before I go any further I have to admit that I have not lived the most prosperous life. I was never the best student. Which leaves me as a college graduate, but not the best educated or the most degree endowed person at the holiday party. While in the working world I have never been that driven to become a 'businessman' so I am a little slow out of the gate in getting started in a career. Which leaves me a little drab when I am stuck with that very DC question, "So, what do you do?" I have had moderate success in sports, never driven to be an olympiad or a professional, but as a recreational athlete I have had some low level success on the dabbler level. Even to achieve at this lower level there needs to be some application of these very simple rules.
Rule One: Give a little, Get a lot.
This rule applies in all aspects of life. It is more basic than Karma. Simply the most basic rule of everyday life, whether in the toddler park, on the sidewalk, in the work place, or on the playing field. In the game of soccer the "give and go" does not work if you do not "give." Sure there is no guarantee that you will "get the go," but you must at least try the "give" to see what happens.
Rule Two: The Correlation between Achievement and Sacrifice
This is very basic. There must always be a certain amount of sacrifice to achieve in anything. If you want to be thin, well, then you may have to forfeit the chocolate cake (maybe not all of it, but keep the intake to a rational level) If you want to participate in a sport that practices/trains in the mornings as swimming and crew most commonly are scheduled, then your late night social events may suffer. Otherwise the morning workouts will suffer. This is a simple example of what people call "burning the candle at both ends." And on the most basic level...it you need to train whether it be running, riding, or double dutch...there must be time spent on the sport and that is time that can not be spent doing other things as there are only so many hours in the day.
Rule Three: There is more to setting a goal than setting a goal
I want to be faster on the mountainbike.
That is a goal of mine. I have set that goal to be faster, now I need to find ways to make it happen. The other described goals factor in how to make this happen.
Rule Four: Attendance; there is more to achievement than attendance, but attendance counts for a great deal.
Recently I have been trying to get more into Yoga. But, I have not been able to make it to class. So, attendance is vital, but when in class it is important for the participant to be there "in the moment." Not just going through the motions, but pushing myself. I see so many people out on their bikes or running and they have their headphones on when I think they should be listening to their bodies. I feel that they would get more out of listening to their bodies than listening to their iPod. Just as I would do better to focus on my Yoga pose rather than the occasionally distraction Yoga pose of the young ladies on the mats around me.
Rule Five: There are no shortcuts, cheaters only cheat themselves.
Pretty basic.
If a runner takes a taxi to beat all other marathoners to the finish, well, quite simply, they have not won. Well, it seems like it should be simple. If a sailor is racing their dingy around the buoys and they are rocking the boat and pumping the sails beyond the allowance of the rules it would be no different than a cyclist taking a shortcut in the Tour de France. So why is it so difficult to understand the current sports scandal of Steroids and Baseball.
Steroids (and the usage of illegal supplements across the board) usage in sports has grown to become a monster across the board. Baseball just happens to be in the spotlight, but track and field, cycling, and of course football are not clear from suspicion as well. The pressure of the public to break records at each event is so great that the athletes are no longer human, they have become super human; faster, stronger, a physique tailored to the sport, and a physiology fine tuned to operate at an unnaturally efficient level.
We are just starting to see the backlash of decades of dangerous supplement usage. Athletes are coming forward and slowly various athletes are showing what may be the negative side effects of toying with and tweeking the human body with such supplements as Steroids.
Lyle Alzado
ARNOLD
Tyler Hamilton
Marion Jones
baseball
the list goes on
In my life I have found that there are some simple rules that aid in achieving goals....
Give a little, get a lot.
There is a Correlation between sacrifice and achievement.
There is more to setting a goal than just setting a goal.
and
Attendance; there is more to achievement than attendance, but attendance counts for a great deal.
There are not shortcuts; Cheaters cheat themselves.
Before I go any further I have to admit that I have not lived the most prosperous life. I was never the best student. Which leaves me as a college graduate, but not the best educated or the most degree endowed person at the holiday party. While in the working world I have never been that driven to become a 'businessman' so I am a little slow out of the gate in getting started in a career. Which leaves me a little drab when I am stuck with that very DC question, "So, what do you do?" I have had moderate success in sports, never driven to be an olympiad or a professional, but as a recreational athlete I have had some low level success on the dabbler level. Even to achieve at this lower level there needs to be some application of these very simple rules.
Rule One: Give a little, Get a lot.
This rule applies in all aspects of life. It is more basic than Karma. Simply the most basic rule of everyday life, whether in the toddler park, on the sidewalk, in the work place, or on the playing field. In the game of soccer the "give and go" does not work if you do not "give." Sure there is no guarantee that you will "get the go," but you must at least try the "give" to see what happens.
Rule Two: The Correlation between Achievement and Sacrifice
This is very basic. There must always be a certain amount of sacrifice to achieve in anything. If you want to be thin, well, then you may have to forfeit the chocolate cake (maybe not all of it, but keep the intake to a rational level) If you want to participate in a sport that practices/trains in the mornings as swimming and crew most commonly are scheduled, then your late night social events may suffer. Otherwise the morning workouts will suffer. This is a simple example of what people call "burning the candle at both ends." And on the most basic level...it you need to train whether it be running, riding, or double dutch...there must be time spent on the sport and that is time that can not be spent doing other things as there are only so many hours in the day.
Rule Three: There is more to setting a goal than setting a goal
I want to be faster on the mountainbike.
That is a goal of mine. I have set that goal to be faster, now I need to find ways to make it happen. The other described goals factor in how to make this happen.
Rule Four: Attendance; there is more to achievement than attendance, but attendance counts for a great deal.
Recently I have been trying to get more into Yoga. But, I have not been able to make it to class. So, attendance is vital, but when in class it is important for the participant to be there "in the moment." Not just going through the motions, but pushing myself. I see so many people out on their bikes or running and they have their headphones on when I think they should be listening to their bodies. I feel that they would get more out of listening to their bodies than listening to their iPod. Just as I would do better to focus on my Yoga pose rather than the occasionally distraction Yoga pose of the young ladies on the mats around me.
Rule Five: There are no shortcuts, cheaters only cheat themselves.
Pretty basic.
If a runner takes a taxi to beat all other marathoners to the finish, well, quite simply, they have not won. Well, it seems like it should be simple. If a sailor is racing their dingy around the buoys and they are rocking the boat and pumping the sails beyond the allowance of the rules it would be no different than a cyclist taking a shortcut in the Tour de France. So why is it so difficult to understand the current sports scandal of Steroids and Baseball.
Steroids (and the usage of illegal supplements across the board) usage in sports has grown to become a monster across the board. Baseball just happens to be in the spotlight, but track and field, cycling, and of course football are not clear from suspicion as well. The pressure of the public to break records at each event is so great that the athletes are no longer human, they have become super human; faster, stronger, a physique tailored to the sport, and a physiology fine tuned to operate at an unnaturally efficient level.
We are just starting to see the backlash of decades of dangerous supplement usage. Athletes are coming forward and slowly various athletes are showing what may be the negative side effects of toying with and tweeking the human body with such supplements as Steroids.
Lyle Alzado
ARNOLD
Tyler Hamilton
Marion Jones
baseball
the list goes on