The people you admire when you are a kid really have a huge impact on your own personal ethics as an adult. One of the people I admired most growing up was my primary school principal.
He truly was a great motivator, but the message I remember most from him was simple:
"Be the best"
Yeah, I know, cliché self-help crap at its best. He was however, good enough to elaborate. He told us that it didn't mater what we did in life so long as we strived to be the best at it. He told us that he didn't care if we became a garbage man so long as we strived to be the best garbage man*.
He was a charismatic man and our ten-year-old minds were sold by his speech and I am sure that we worked just that little bit harder in class that week and did just that little bit more homework.
But the impact of that speech really didn't come home until adulthood. For some reason it niggles at the back of my mind and challenges me to do better even to this day. Especially to this day.
I have had some dodgy dull jobs and I have had some great jobs. My principal's message is always there in the back of my mind telling me to do my best regardless.
I worked in an abattoir where we monotonously slaughtered and prepared animals for the dinner table. I could have shrugged it off as a job not fit for me, something for others. But after a few weeks there, I noticed people who took great pride in the repetitive work of the slaughter house. They were the people I strived to emulate. They became people I admired. I sort to find something to learn from the experience and did my damnedest to be the best at what I did.
I took pride in my knifemanship and keeping a keen edge on my knife. These are skills I still cherish and use today.
I was surprised to find that I got recognised for my hard work and attempt to do my best quickly and was soon moved onto more challenging tasks. When I left for university I was shocked to find out that the foreman's were were quite upset by my departure because they were grooming me to be a foreman.
Teacher, student, pizza boy, pool boy, soldier; I have strived to do my best and people surprisingly respond well to that and you start to quickly earn their respect. Not only that, but you start to enjoy what you are doing no matter the task and you will always have a valuable skill to take away with you.
I think taking pride in my skills and striving to be the best at what I do made me better at what I did. It wasn't some magical force that I would passively gain. It was that little bit of self-competition that urged me on to do a little better each day.
Doing my best also made me more interested in learning the intricacies of my job and observing what my betters did...well...better.
My old principals message is part of my ethos today. Something I am.
*in hindsight this may have had an unfortunate result for the assembly that day. I do recall many a student who proclaimed that the garbage man's life was exactly the career they were now going to be the best at - You win some, you lose some.
Sunday 26 January 2014
Wednesday 22 January 2014
Cutting your losses: a lesson learnt at Fuji Q Highland theme park
It was my first year in Japan and I hadn't really got the hang of how far Japanese folks will go to do something. During Golden Week, the busiest time of year for domestic tourism in Japan, my wife and I decided to hit Fuji Q Highland for some theme park action.
We got there early and the haunted house was just a mere 20 minute wait in line. Cool, I thought. 20 minutes is nothing and certainly worth it considering the size and suggested quality of the haunted house. The good news is, it was. It was worth it completely. The attraction design and storyline was worth the 20 minute investment.
The next ride we lined up for was the classic wooden roller-coaster, the Fujiyama. It towered high in the air just calling us to this monumental ride. My wife and I made our way to the start of the queue far from the designated entrance.
20 minutes transpired.
Another 20...
An hour...
Maintenance men were hurrying to the ride.
Another hour...
Another.
4... and... a... half... hours.... later and we were sitting atop the roller coaster ready to be plunged into a thrilling 40 seconds of shear exhilaration.
That's right. 40 seconds.
I had just spend 4 and a half hours of my life in line for 40 seconds of fun.
A lot went through my mind while I was waiting in line. To the forefront of my thoughts were two things that follow from each other:
1. This investment is not equalling the reward. I mean it is obvious, right? But we have all done this stupid waiting game before whether it is a line in a theme park, for the latest release blockbuster, or even at the bank. The thing is, we just stand there and wait. We tell ourselves that we have already invested this time so we may as well keep waiting so our time investment accumulates and we are less likely to leave the longer we stay.
But this is all just a bit of a fib really. Your investment in time has no more real purpose when your wait one hour than when you wait four hours. The outcome is still the same.
The trick is to look at the goal and work backwards. I ask myself, what am I going to gain from this? What am I willing to invest in it? Once I have decided I know when to walk away and write the whole endeavour off as a bad investment or just not invest in it in the first place. This is why I rarely go to theme parks these days and when I do I invest in some sort of fast pass that will get me to the front of the line and my time is not waisted.
Oh and I always remember to bring my smartphone so I can read a book.
Since that day you would never find me waiting for ages for something. Hey if there is an excessive cue at the bank (after making sure I can't do it online first) I would rather waste 10 minutes writing a complaint to the bank about an excessive cue (you'd be surprised. I may be just what the overworked staff are after to hire more on and you may just find yourself privelagewith an appointment mades especially for you).
2. Why am I paying money for the privilege of acting like cattle lining for the slaughter? Seriously, think about it. Theme parts are roughly 80% waiting and 20% ride or attraction. You are paying top dollar to wait in line! You are paying for the privilege to queue. Anywhere else, you would consider this an outrage.
Anywhere else, you would not have to queue and you would probably have a much more genuine experience to boot. I still have fond memories of sliding down a natural stony slippery slide in a national part near Toowoomba in South East Queensland. I remember the smell, the scenery the fun of the day so much more than my times at a water park. Plus, it didn't cost me a cent. My memories of theme parks, however, are blurred and a mix of fun and waiting for fun.
So why am I enduring most of my day lining up like some product on a conveyor belt. Has the industrial revolution brainwashed me so much?
Cut it out! You're better than this. You've got better things to do!
We got there early and the haunted house was just a mere 20 minute wait in line. Cool, I thought. 20 minutes is nothing and certainly worth it considering the size and suggested quality of the haunted house. The good news is, it was. It was worth it completely. The attraction design and storyline was worth the 20 minute investment.
The next ride we lined up for was the classic wooden roller-coaster, the Fujiyama. It towered high in the air just calling us to this monumental ride. My wife and I made our way to the start of the queue far from the designated entrance.
20 minutes transpired.
Another 20...
An hour...
Maintenance men were hurrying to the ride.
Another hour...
Another.
4... and... a... half... hours.... later and we were sitting atop the roller coaster ready to be plunged into a thrilling 40 seconds of shear exhilaration.
That's right. 40 seconds.
I had just spend 4 and a half hours of my life in line for 40 seconds of fun.
A lot went through my mind while I was waiting in line. To the forefront of my thoughts were two things that follow from each other:
1. This investment is not equalling the reward. I mean it is obvious, right? But we have all done this stupid waiting game before whether it is a line in a theme park, for the latest release blockbuster, or even at the bank. The thing is, we just stand there and wait. We tell ourselves that we have already invested this time so we may as well keep waiting so our time investment accumulates and we are less likely to leave the longer we stay.
But this is all just a bit of a fib really. Your investment in time has no more real purpose when your wait one hour than when you wait four hours. The outcome is still the same.
The trick is to look at the goal and work backwards. I ask myself, what am I going to gain from this? What am I willing to invest in it? Once I have decided I know when to walk away and write the whole endeavour off as a bad investment or just not invest in it in the first place. This is why I rarely go to theme parks these days and when I do I invest in some sort of fast pass that will get me to the front of the line and my time is not waisted.
Oh and I always remember to bring my smartphone so I can read a book.
Since that day you would never find me waiting for ages for something. Hey if there is an excessive cue at the bank (after making sure I can't do it online first) I would rather waste 10 minutes writing a complaint to the bank about an excessive cue (you'd be surprised. I may be just what the overworked staff are after to hire more on and you may just find yourself privelagewith an appointment mades especially for you).
2. Why am I paying money for the privilege of acting like cattle lining for the slaughter? Seriously, think about it. Theme parts are roughly 80% waiting and 20% ride or attraction. You are paying top dollar to wait in line! You are paying for the privilege to queue. Anywhere else, you would consider this an outrage.
Anywhere else, you would not have to queue and you would probably have a much more genuine experience to boot. I still have fond memories of sliding down a natural stony slippery slide in a national part near Toowoomba in South East Queensland. I remember the smell, the scenery the fun of the day so much more than my times at a water park. Plus, it didn't cost me a cent. My memories of theme parks, however, are blurred and a mix of fun and waiting for fun.
So why am I enduring most of my day lining up like some product on a conveyor belt. Has the industrial revolution brainwashed me so much?
Cut it out! You're better than this. You've got better things to do!
Tuesday 21 January 2014
Challenge yourself: silly things that keep pushing you in your workout.
Just to mix up my usual gym routine I like to set a few silly goals. In Thailand I taught myself to do a human flag. In Japan I manage to learn how to do a half decent planche. The thing is, you don't always have to have a serious goal in order to help drive you to be better or do better. Sometimes silly goals can be quite refreshing and sometimes they can stimulate your creativity.
Yesterday I was updating my location on a bar-workout callisthenics site called MadBarz that I have been lurking on. I decided to look at their monthly challenges and thought, hey! I can do that!
This months challenge was to do a pull up with the heaviest weight you can. Sure, it really has no benefit to my overall gym plan but it was something fun to do and something I can strive for for the month. So below are the results.
This time around I managed 45kg/100lb for one decent rep with chin above bar. The second one I didn't drop all the way down so I don't count it. I will try for more in a few days.
Oh, I really don't know the MadBarz team but they seem to have a really tight site with a beautifully produced set of workout designs and a really friendly community. There are no roid monsters there, just a bunch of girls and guys who take to the bars wherever they find them and heave.
Yesterday I was updating my location on a bar-workout callisthenics site called MadBarz that I have been lurking on. I decided to look at their monthly challenges and thought, hey! I can do that!
This months challenge was to do a pull up with the heaviest weight you can. Sure, it really has no benefit to my overall gym plan but it was something fun to do and something I can strive for for the month. So below are the results.
This time around I managed 45kg/100lb for one decent rep with chin above bar. The second one I didn't drop all the way down so I don't count it. I will try for more in a few days.
Oh, I really don't know the MadBarz team but they seem to have a really tight site with a beautifully produced set of workout designs and a really friendly community. There are no roid monsters there, just a bunch of girls and guys who take to the bars wherever they find them and heave.
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