Tag: rest

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Rest with Intent – It Compounds

High-performance-rest

Being purposeful comes with an advantage

Josh Waitzkin grew up playing chess (he was the subject of the movie Searching for Bobby Fisher). He wasn’t known as a competitive fighter. Then Josh Waitzkin won the world Tai Chi (push hands) championship.

One thing that Josh took with him from the chess world to competitive fighting was the intent.

He used it for each part of the fight. One thing that stood out to me was how he changed how he recovered between rounds.

Usually, when tired, most of us put our hands on our knees or have a seat. Josh didn’t do that.

In between rounds he laid on the ground. Flat, as if he were going to sleep.

It’s a smarter way to recover. It’s intentional.

The difference between that and the usual method is tiny. Even so, since this was a continual fight, that advantage compounded. By the time the fighters reached the end of the fight, that little edge had made a huge difference. It propelled Josh to beat his highly skilled opponent.

Sure, it looked silly to his opponents at the time.

The thing is, no one remembers how you recovered between rounds. They just remember how you fought.

When we work, we have to think about, with intent, how we rest. We have to beat back the idea of “silly” or making sure we conform to an unwritten standard.

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Some Ways to Level Up

Two that stand out to me:

  • Repetiton: Putting your nose to the grindstone.
    •  In an RPG (Role Playing Game), this is fighting the same type monster for a long time.
  • Risk: Going outside your comfort zone.
    • In an RPG, this is going to a place where the danger is significant.

Preparation, specifically how you prepare, is the difference between these.

For the former – repetition – it’s about steadying one’s self for repeated acts. If one isn’t ready, he or she becomes numb, and disaster will strike.

For the latter – risk – it can be painful. If one doesn’t “heal” properly, one won’t be released. One also needs to understand that without having healed, he or she is going into it with far more risk. If that isn’t acknowledged, there will be panic and disaster will strike.

In video games, you get only one choice – take a risk or repeat. In life, you can do both.

Take advantage.

 

 

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The Discipline of Meditation

It isn’t as hard as we make it.

I think one of the largest barriers to entry to meditation is the visualization people have for it.

They think of the monk in front of the river, crossing his legs, chanting some Buddhist scripture. He is devout. His concentration is keen. Nothing effects him.

That level of discipline scares people, especially me.

But what I’ve come to learn is that isn’t the only form of meditation at all.

Mediation is a nice walk in the park, sitting in a room, or even working out. Meditation comes in a lot of forms.

All it requires is enough mindfulness to concentrate on your breathing.

Once you do that, you’ll notice thoughts.

Once you begin to notice, don’t act, just watch.

Breathe. Let Go. Watch those thoughts go away, more will come. Just Breathe. Let Go.

Read that sentence slowly, and you could accidentally start meditating.

No river, nature, or chant required.

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Ready…Set…Go

Put a timer on it

The next time you have a mundane task set a timer and make it a game.

I bet that you’ll be done faster.

Why is that?

There is a part of us that leaves energy in the tank, and because of that part, we slow down. Putting stakes on anything tricks the body into releasing energy that makes the hour-long shower into a seven-minute one.

Being deliberate about what you’ll rush will open up time in your schedule, giving you plenty of opportunities to rest.

PS Trying this in 5 minutes 🙂

 

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Missing Sleep Doesn’t Get You on the Scoreboard And Neither Does Busy

Go to sleep.

You don’t get points for making things harder on yourself.

Sleeping, like eating, is an important function to how we operate.

The idea that 4 hours of sleep is a badge of honor is like saying you ate 3 eggs per day, and that’s it. After a day or two, your body would throw a hissy fit.

The lack of sleep is doing the same thing to your mind.

I get it: it’s trendy to say how “busy” you are.

It makes us feel important, but it’s shallow. The “busy” stuff generally cuts into our sleep and the “busy” is rarely important.

That’s why no one ever keeps track of your “busy” days.

The body and mind keep track of the days you don’t sleep, and it just makes things harder on you because your body didn’t do its work.

If clarity and focus matter, start treating sleep as importantly as you do dinner.

Get some sleep.

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Start With The Hard Part i.e., The Push-up Doctrine

Do push-ups now!

Sir, yes, sir!?!?!?!

No, you aren’t reading the instruction manual to Army Boot Camp, just the inner monologue to my out of bed workout. It’s a reminder to do the hard part first.

I remind myself to do push-ups first because they are hard. I can’t meander when I do them because the moment I feel my body weight I can’t avoid it. It immediately gets me active.

After a set of push-ups, I become more mindful of the exercises that follow. My form is better and I don’t waste time.

When I avoid push-ups and push that work to the end, I lose.

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Wake Up & Refresh Because Sleep Is Work

Good Morning

Did you know your brain isn’t sleeping when you are?

Wait what…?

Essentially, it’s doing this:

Remember this screen growing up, and locked up your PC? Well…this is sleep.

Sleep is work.

Maybe I’ve always known that since I never was a morning person. If I did anything before 9 AM it was special (or a living requirement…I’ll get up to pay my rent, and even that was a challenge).

But, until recently, I never acted on the information. I’ve gotten up with the sun over the last few weeks more often than not by recharging after all that sleep work.

How do I recharge after getting such a “sleep workout?”

 

  • Fuel – I keep a bottle of water by my bed and try to drink a bunch as soon as my alarm goes off.
  • Physical – Quick body weight (push-ups, squats, and sit-ups) exercises every morning after the water.
  • Mental – This blog, every morning (when it comes late I never quite feel right).

I am full of energy before the day begins.  Good morning!

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Being Functional vs Being 100%

Being sick is a long process

Dealing with a cold, particularly a bad cold, is annoying to me because I often forget how long it takes to  recover.

When I look back on the memory of that cold, I don’t think of the full process, I just think of the worst of it. I reflected on the 48-72 hour period where I ran a high fever, cough everywhere, and never wanted to leave my bed. I missed out on looking at the full picture.

Instead of thinking about full recovery, I thought about getting back to functional, and usually, that only means physically.  I ignored my mental slowness and emotional fatigue. I missed opportunities by pushing too hard too fast. 

I try to move on with my life after three days, when the real recovery takes about ten. I’m like a goldfish to this part of the process.

Don’t choose option 3.

 

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Don’t Choose Option 3

What Do You Mean?

It’s hard to get out of your comfort zone. It takes a lot of energy to go past the map, After you’ve stretched yourself (physically, emotionally, financially etc) past the internal boundaries we resign ourselves to. It is never an easy journey.

At the end of that journey,  we have three options. there are two choices, each with a reward, along with a third, suckers choice that unfortunately we all too often go to.

The Three Options

  1. Rest and Recovery (R&R)  – You’ve just spent your willpower and energy. So now, you are worse at decision-making, physical activity, and food isn’t as flavorful (a good reason to eat the bland healthy stuff when you are here). The tricky part is recognizing when you are “back,” because I often screw up here and unintentionally go to option 3 when I need to stay and  rested.  If you want the full picture and if you want the new connections in the brain to stick, you need R&R.
  2. Keep Exploring – This is where things like “runners high” come from. We often think we are at our limits when we aren’t, and you won’t discover just how far you can go without experimenting. There are some risks involved – hurting yourself  (even permanently) is an option, so tread lightly. With that said, nothing is more exhilarating than “beating” your ego and it’s expectations. If you do pursue this option, please take an extra long look at option one, you are going to need it.
  3. “Back To Business As Usual” – This is the heartbreaking option. When we go through something that big, we often retreat back to where we just were. We move back on our “maps” and don’t take the time to figure out what happened. We don’t rest, we keep “hustling” and next thing we know, we are doing the same things we hate. Even worse, since we didn’t recover, we are not as sharp.  This is the suckers bet.  We often choose this because it feels safe, but because we do we often miss out on the great journeys in life.

Option three kills insight. Don’t choose option 3.

If you are thinking, why isn’t there an option 4 for transformation, don’t worry. If you don’t go backwards and you rest long enough – you start moving 🙂 

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Life As Usual Video Blog #14 – Sleep

QOTW: How much sleep do you get?

Every week I do a video blog (or VLOG).

This week I talked about sleep.

When I started this,  I was very scared of putting myself on video, so I got the courage and put myself in the arena, killing a lot of bad self talk.This gives me the chance to work on my communication skills, start a new medium, and experiment!

Once a week, after I have thought about them, I will give them a day here on the blog.

These aren’t just promotion posts (although they are, please watch and share :-) ) I want to take the time to break them down and try to clarify what I want to communicate and the tactical things I learned through doing.

If you enjoyed the video, and if you want to get on the ride, please,subscribe to my YouTube channel, and join my Facebook page where I post them every Sunday night.

What I Wanted To Communicate About Sleep

Sleep is critical to any type of thinking you do. If you want to be at your best, please take the time to integrate sleep in your schedule. The idea of sleeping when your dead will leave you mentally dead instead.

  • Keeps you working at 100% – When you lay down, it allows your brain to catchup. It’s like the sand in an hour-glass. When you sleep, you flip it, giving you energy.
  • A necessary expense – If you want to work at 100%, you need it. If you don’t get it, it’s like living in a major city with no transportation.
  • You don’t get it back – Once it’s gone, it’s gone, and with it go ideas and willpower.  There is no such thing as catchup sleep – You need to focus on getting sleep regularly, those marathon sessions during the weekend aren’t doing you any favors.

What I Learned Doing This Video

  • Pre-production is critical. It makes the work much easier.
  • Cutting it into 4 pieces works better, instead of trying to get it all in one or two shots.
  • Moving the camera closer made the video look better.
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