2015 - My Year in Review

Well, it's that time again.  Time to assess the last twelve months, to cast judgement and make wry observations.

Overall, it was a sporty year personally.  I was fortunate to attend a few world class sports events in different parts of the world - the Monaco Grand Prix, the American League Baseball Championship Series and the Rugby World Cup.  I also ran my own first marathon (see, not just a spectator), climbed a mountain, and will have scaled the heights of the Peruvian Andes.  So - a sporty focus to my year absolutely, and for that I'm grateful - the opportunity and ability to do this aren't lost on me.

It was also a year of extensive travel, with some new countries for me (Honduras and Iceland) and many visits to old favourites.  I was able to spend time 1:1 with the people that mean the most to me in each of France, Japan and Iceland.

Based on all that, it was a very good year.  I also took on a new role at work myself, and saw each of my favourite people flourish and succeed in their work and lives. Proving themselves, applying themselves and being selected for new challenges and responsibilities.  There were moments that weren't all positive though too - people I love getting injured and the various ups and downs that are present at any time.   However electing to focus on the positive, here are my own top 12 personal moments of 2015 in no particular order..

• A memorable lunch in Saint-Paul in the Cote D'Azur at La Columbe D'or.  A stunning day with wonderful good friends, and my love, in perhaps the most fantastic restaurant ever. Lunch lasted hours and hours, the rose flowed and flowed and we were surrounded by fascinating locals and celebrities alike.  An absolute once in a lifetime assembly of good fortune made this a truly spectacular day.  The game of boules that followed was surely a lesson for all to see in people enjoying themselves.  What a day, what a trip.

• It's special when the time presents itself to do something that you've always wanted to do, and with someone you think so highly of.  That was August this year when my son and I were able to spend 10 days exploring Japan.  The fast trains, great food and fascinating culture that is modern Japan.  We climbed Mt. Fuji and were deeply moved in Hiroshima by the people, and its' history.  Perhaps the most stirring was the Fushimi-Ianri Shrine in Kyoto that we luckily encountered in the pouring rain, crowd-free and ethereally cloudy and silent save for the chanting in the mist.  An unforgettable time and a shared experience that lingers.

• In keeping with the theme of spending time exploring the world with my family, the year was capped off with three bucket list items - a first trip to Iceland, a first view of the Aurora Borealis and time spent with my daughter.  In a whirlwind weekend we spanned two tectonic plates, explored Rekyavik, were showered and surprised by geysers and had an (extremely cold) Aurora experience that blew us both away.  You can't predict these things and the lights were shooting across the sky, dancing with ferocity.  It was wondrous.  

• I had another chance in the year to travel with family, and this one happened by happenstance - making it all the better.  My brother and I both happened to be in London at the same time and had a great local dinner together near Maida Vale.  It was a fortuitous evening, that we both enjoyed for the spontaneity and company.  It's fair to say we don't have dinner together often, and although we live in the same city, thousands of miles from London, we're each involved with our own lives.  It was a great evening and one I will treasure.
• I did mention sports figured prominently, and my favourite 'event' of the year amongst a really good set of sports choices was the first game of the Rugby World Cup, this time in Wales with my
  
  friends Chris, Aine, Jonty and crew.  We saw our team lose, badly even, but the entire city was in rugby party mode, and so were we.  We went on to watch a few more games and travelled throughout many UK cities, but that first game was really good for the novelty, the Irish crowd and the friends. Our seats were stunning and the action was non-stop.  I think it's the first time I slept on a small couch (hanging over the sides) since university.  The streets of Cardiff looked like I felt the morning after too.

• Stepping away from the travel theme activities (you must think I spend my life on the road by now), one of the year's best other memories comes via my oldest friend, who I spent lots of time with, as we finished his basement bathroom (perhaps "finished" may be an optimistic way of looking at the end product), talked endlessly about his about -to-be born new baby boy, and laughed.  I was also so proud of him at his retirement event from the military after 20+ years of service, where he was given honour after honour. Don't let the plumber's crack fool you, this is a guy who has looked after the freedoms we take for granted. 

• Speaking of pride, my own year of physical exertion was capped by the completion of my first marathon.  I'd run some "half's" before, including earlier in the year, but had also silently thanked the running gods when I got to turn left instead of right in past races indicating the
  
  finish line of my half marathon versus the half-way mark of the full tamale.  But after an intense summer of training (some of which was admittedly spectacular, see below), it seemed do-able.  The actual event was...fun.  I do mean that too.  My daughter, and a friend named Kurt and I did it together and had a great time. We laughed, supported and cheered one another on.  It was hard, but an exceptional experience, and one I never thought I'd do.  It opened my (old) eyes to making something happen through will-power.  I don't think I've ever felt as powerful as the final kilometer where I found the energy to sprint to the end.  Now I want to do more.

Another of the year's highlights is associated in a sense to running, as the soundtrack to my year was the Foo Fighters. And it still is. I missed seeing them for reasons I don't really recall when they were in my hometown earlier in the year, and in one of the business trips I had, I was close enough to see them.  Off to the Ziggo Dome I went and they were everything I had hoped for.  It's a good thing they were loud, as I was screaming along to every song, and judging by those around me, so was everyone else.  Live music is always good, and if the songs carry an emotional element for you as these guys do for me, it turns into something the wrenches at your heart.

My remaining four best moments of the year all have something special about them as well. - but no pics.  Number nine is my wife and daughter and I doing a tourist weekend in Washington in February against the wishes of the weather gods.  We almost froze to death, but Washington has so much to offer, and is such a great place to visit.  After repeated attempts, the seminal desired photo was achieved - a folded $5 bill of the Lincoln Memorial in front of the Lincoln Memorial itself.  I recall at the time wondering if frost-bitten toes were worth it - but my family certainly is and toes grow back...right ?

I warmed up in April with a diving trip to Honduras where I did some advanced certification courses and dove to various wrecks around the island.  Diving trips are always good and all the more so when almost every dive features turtles and big moray eels.

Our whole family was together visiting my son in the Annapolis Valley in early summer and that was also fantastic.  We saw how put together he was, working away between university years -  and also how stunningly beautiful Nova Scotia can be.  You know you've raised your children well, when they research best restaurants to try, and best local cheese and ice-cream shops in the county to break up the drive back.

The last memory that pops out goes back to running, and some of the training I had to do.  As you can gather, I was on the road lots for work (and admittedly some fun too) and so I had to figure out how to train for the marathon while away.  My favourite training run took me around Heathrow Airport, and I did that one a couple times it was so good.  I'm an airplane geek and running next to active runways and hangers with all these incredible aircraft just sitting there is a great way to not think about running.  Needless to say I know my way around that airport, and the cut-ins from various local roads, and how to avoid the M5 and M4 junction roads too.  No doubt amidst today's heightened security, I've also been photographed and perhaps more as a 'suspicious character'.  But it was worth it, and I look forward to doing it again.

2015 has been a great year for me and my family.  It's not over yet - we have one more adventure to come still, but more than where you are, more than what you're doing, what tends to make anything stand out is the time together, at least for me.  I hope your year in review leads to as many happy memories of your own.

Paris & ISIS - A Theory

Like many of us, I'm feeling quite uncomfortable about the attacks in Paris. Senseless barbarity at it's worst.  I don't fear that attacks will be closer to home but I do think the reactions are, and that - I fear - was the point.

I've been trying to think like these guys for a couple days after Friday night's violence - what's the end game..?  What are they aiming for?  I think this is a useful approach because if we understand their strategy, we can defeat it.   I'm not condemning the knee-jerk retribution reaction the French are having as they are outraged and humiliated and suffering, but I do wonder if the actions they are now undertaking are the ones that will have the most impact.

In the West's various misdirected activities in Iraq, Afghanistan and so on (hindsight being 20/20) in the last 15 years, we have hopefully learned that without a clear and concise exit strategy (what happens after the soldiers leave), then the effort while positively motivated at the outset, ends in quagmire.  I think as an aside that's why we haven't seen ground troops to date in the Syrian civil war as the end game is anything but clear, even while the atrocities committed there scream for intervention.  Recall for a moment that ISIS came to light after the Syrian conflict began, and started to fight in the midst of that conflict.

If that principle applies to us - the need to have the exit strategy, then surely it equally applies to ISIS. Let's say they win the efforts on the ground, capture the territory they're aiming for and cease being a militant army and start to want actual recognition as a governing body.  There's countless precedents for this from the Taliban to the IRA.  What's their plan..?  Well, having provoked and pissed off the Russians and the West within the last month, it seems illogical that they are attempting to make their Syrian territory ground warfare efforts more effective to be able to govern one day.  The natural reaction is what we've seen- retribution and increased focus on eradicating them via smart bombs - cutting out the cancer.

As any doctor will attest however, cancer is a tricky disease, it can be removed and re-appear, it can go into remission and then re-emerge.  If you were ISIS strategic direction, what would your aim be in light of what's happening on the ground in Syria, and with the recent attacks in mind.

I have a theory that I want to share, that the evidence to date supports.  ISIS aims are to stir up global retribution against Islam itself, knowing they themselves are going to be short-lived and in the context of history, just a blip.  Around me outside of France, I'm seeing witness to senseless attacks on innocents that happen to be Muslim - personally and against Mosques.  This is being perpetrated by those that don't understand the difference between the militants and their associated religion and are angry at what they saw in Paris.  On a national scale, the effects of increased war efforts by Russia and France with air raids and cruise missiles will accelerate into a more coordinated activity by a 'coalition' of many countries no doubt aimed at destroying ISIS strongholds.  And while they'll kill some ISIS fighters, they're also aiming their bombs at innocent Syrians - Muslims that are being victimized on all fronts.   ISIS needs to spread more than anything, and the idea that the West is killing Muslims because Islam itself is being targeted is their end-game I think.  That's how the cancer spreads.

ISIS isn't afraid of the active war against them, they needed to provoke it and that was the rationale behind the very high profile activities of knocking passenger jets out of the sky and killing a couple hundred innocent Parisians.  If I'm right - by reacting strongly, motivated by revenge in the way we're seeing it playing out today, we are playing into their hands of creating martyrs for their greater cause. If that's the case, the answer could well be to surgically remove the issue, quietly and without fuss. We need to address what's been done, but let's do it in a manner that doesn't give birth to the next generation of anger that spawns into the next ISIS.  We aren't at war with Islam and we cannot let the insanely criminal activities of a few, convince us that we are.

The Soundtrack to Your Life

You know songs that get stuck in your head..?

I have those, only it's a whole album, its a whole band.  It's the music I've listened to all year, some movies I've greatly admired and how I've run these past months.  The songs that make me scream and cry and sing.

And I'm seeing this group tonight.

I don't think I could be more excited about a concert.  It's so much more than a concert to me.

I wish you the same intensity on whatever you care about.

Brain Pickings - check it out

This isn't sponsored content, just something I think very highly of.  So first and foremost, go to Brain Pickings and subscribe for the weekly newsletter.  If you don't like it, you can opt-out.  I've been receiving it for a few years and it's a worthwhile read.

This is from their 9th anniversary. I say 'they' but Brain Pickings is really just Maria Popova, a one-woman source of inspiring stuff that is both recent and historically relevant in writings and art.

This list of nine reflections is fairly self explanatory, and exceptionally interesting.. (Text from here is verbatim)...

As Brain Pickings turns nine, I continue to stand by these seven reflections, but the time has come to add two more. (Nine is also an excellent numeral – an exponential factorial, the number of Muses in Greek mythology, my favorite chapter in Alice in Wonderland.) Here are the original seven, as they appeared in 2013:

1. Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind. Cultivate that capacity for "negative capability." We live in a culture where one of the greatest social disgraces is not having an opinion, so we often form our "opinions" based on superficial impressions or the borrowed ideas of others, without investing the time and thought that cultivating true conviction necessitates. We then go around asserting these donned opinions and clinging to them as anchors to our own reality. It's enormously disorienting to simply say, "I don't know." But it's infinitely more rewarding to understand than to be right – even if that means changing your mind about a topic, an ideology, or, above all, yourself.

2. Do nothing for prestige or status or money or approval alone. As Paul Graham observed, "prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you’d like to like." Those extrinsic motivators are fine and can feel life-affirming in the moment, but they ultimately don't make it thrilling to get up in the morning and gratifying to go to sleep at night – and, in fact, they can often distract and detract from the things that do offer those deeper rewards.

3. Be generous. Be generous with your time and your resources and with giving credit and, especially, with your words. It's so much easier to be a critic than a celebrator. Always remember there is a human being on the other end of every exchange and behind every cultural artifact being critiqued. To understand and be understood, those are among life's greatest gifts, and every interaction is an opportunity to exchange them.

4. Build pockets of stillness into your life. Meditate. Go for walks. Ride your bike going nowhere in particular. There is a creative purpose to daydreaming, even to boredom. The best ideas come to us when we stop actively trying to coax the muse into manifesting and let the fragments of experience float around our unconscious mind in order to click into new combinations. Without this essential stage of unconscious processing, the entire flow of the creative process is broken.

Most importantly, sleep. Besides being the greatest creative aphrodisiac, sleep also affects our every waking moment, dictates our social rhythm, and even mediates our negative moods. Be as religious and disciplined about your sleep as you are about your work. We tend to wear our ability to get by on little sleep as some sort of badge of honor that validates our work ethic. But what it really is is a profound failure of self-respect and of priorities. What could possibly be more important than your health and your sanity, from which all else springs?

5. When people tell you who they are, Maya Angelou famously advised, believe them. Just as importantly, however, when people try to tell you who you are, don't believe them. You are the only custodian of your own integrity, and the assumptions made by those that misunderstand who you are and what you stand for reveal a great deal about them and absolutely nothing about you.

6. Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity. Ours is a culture that measures our worth as human beings by our efficiency, our earnings, our ability to perform this or that. The cult of productivity has its place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that makes life worth living – for, as Annie Dillard memorably put it, "how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."

7. "Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time." This is borrowed from the wise and wonderful Debbie Millman, for it's hard to better capture something so fundamental yet so impatiently overlooked in our culture of immediacy. The myth of the overnight success is just that – a myth – as well as a reminder that our present definition of success needs serious retuning. As I've reflected elsewhere, the flower doesn’t go from bud to blossom in one spritely burst and yet, as a culture, we're disinterested in the tedium of the blossoming. But that’s where all the real magic unfolds in the making of one’s character and destiny.

And here are the two new additions:

8. Seek out what magnifies your spirit. Patti Smith, in discussing William Blake and her creative influences, talks about writers and artists who magnified her spirit – it's a beautiful phrase and a beautiful notion. Who are the people, ideas, and books that magnify your spirit? Find them, hold on to them, and visit them often. Use them not only as a remedy once spiritual malaise has already infected your vitality but as a vaccine administered while you are healthy to protect your radiance.

9. Don't be afraid to be an idealist. There is much to be said for our responsibility as creators and consumers of that constant dynamic interaction we call culture – which side of the fault line between catering and creating are we to stand on? The commercial enterprise is conditioning us to believe that the road to success is paved with catering to existing demands – give the people cat GIFs, the narrative goes, because cat GIFs are what the people want. But E.B. White, one of our last great idealists, was eternally right when he asserted half a century ago that the role of the writer is "to lift people up, not lower them down" – a role each of us is called to with increasing urgency, whatever cog we may be in the machinery of society. Supply creates its own demand. Only by consistently supplying it can we hope to increase the demand for the substantive over the superficial – in our individual lives and in the collective dream called culture.

As I said above, go to Brain Pickings and subscribe for the weekly newsletter.  You will appreciate it, I promise.

S.

Success by Any Measure

I successfully ran my first marathon today, and I feel tremendous about it.  Except perhaps for some general fatigue and the fact my legs are beyond stiff and sore.  But that's the bounty I earned today and I'm even relishing that.

I enjoyed the effort - ok, not all the effort as it was really cold - but that was secondary to how I felt. I learned a number of things about myself this weekend, this summer really, and I'll share them as I'd like to encourage you to reach outside your own comfort zone to get the same insights into yourself.

First off, let me say I'm not a natural runner. You know those lithe people that seem to glide over the ground and don't sweat when moving along - reincarnated gazelles or something like that. Well, I'm not one of those, so running is lots of work for me, as it is for many others.  I have to push for every step.  With that in mind here's a few things I learned today:

1. I can keep pushing myself - through pain, discomfort and even the tedium of long practice runs.  That tells me I can do that in other parts of my life too.
2. I never thought about quitting, in fact there was never a question of it. I took 4hours and 50mins today in 3-6 degrees celsius and I sang out loud through the last 40mins. Doubt trips us up, and while it takes more than a positive attitude to succeed, it's always good to have.
3. I ran with 2 other incredible people for the first 28kms, and we joked and laughed.  Humour and camaraderie and shared suffering help me outside of my head and I've got great memories of our time together today as a result. 
4. I drew energy from the crowds that were positive, supportive and all over.  I was never alone. I 'high-fived' little kids and countless strangers and it meant a huge amount to me that they were there. Never forget your cheering section as they are a powerful motivating force.
5. A running support visit from my wife in the last 1.5kms totally revved me up. I tripled my speed and had energy to spare.  Her conscious effort to come to where I was allowed me to access an energy source I didn't know I had.  Love and support is incredible to help us achieve what we might think is beyond our abilities.

As I sit here at the end of this day, still humming from the work involved and a general glow of accomplishment, I do have to wonder a little.  While I hadn't ever intended to run a marathon, I found it to be a unique test and I'm very glad to have done it.  I understand enough about myself that I was willing to try and fail - to have quit, and thrown in the towel that I couldn't do it. And I did it anyway, aiming for success, but knowing I could reach my own breaking point. The knowledge that it would have been ok to fail was strangely free-ing, it was no longer an option once I had de-fanged it. That is probably the most important thing I learned today on that long straight road. 

To Dare Greatly and Fail

I'm a fan of Brene Brown and her popularization of Teddy Roosevelt's 1923 Speech, where he captures the idea of daring greatly..
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Brene Brown wrote a book and arguably started a movement about this, and there's a specific idea in here I really admire: The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again..and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.  To put yourself out there, and try knowing you may well fail - that's a romantic concept I appreciate - it's the seeds of greatness.  I grew up on the philosophy of Yoda - "There is no try, there is only do, or do not" and I think the little green guy was wrong here actually.  You have to try, and take the leap sometimes. At worst you fail, but then the very act of trying was still worth doing, because it's important to understand enough about yourself that you're willing to fail - and have tried nonetheless.

Marathon

"Whether you think you can, or you can't, you're probably right" 

- Henry Ford

You probably know the story of the first famous long distance runner who delivered a message of battle success against the Persians, and raced from Marathon to Athens, running all 26miles / 42kilometers.   And then promptly died on the spot. Happily mortality rates from marathons have dramatically improved since then, but they are still held as a true test of fitness and stamina.

My own first marathon is in a week, and I'm finding that Mr. Ford's observation rings true. While it's a run, the reality of the effort is that it'll be done mostly between my ears. Running a marathon will take somewhere between 3.5 and 5 hours  - I'm not Kenyan - and in that time there will be emotional highs and lows. Dealing with fatigue, various types of pain and watching others both pass me, and crumble by the road-side will be a fascinating experience.  Having done a number of half marathons, I expect it to be a larger, more evocative day, but not new.

You see in many ways, the marathon is going to be an anti-climax to the whole effort that began months ago when a coupe of us elected to try for the marathon.  A structured four month preparation program began then, and it was undertaken because none of us underestimated what this would take. We've run long, we ran in high heat, we ran in the rain.  We ran and ran and ran, and then ran again the next day.  Long slow practices had us go well north of 30kms, and there was a long time period when every run was a new personal distance record.  It got to the point when doing 'only' a half marathon felt like an easy day.  Distance blends, and you share in each other's resolve and challenges alike.  I know I've run close to 600kms since May, so in that sense, another 42 ought to be easy.  Or maybe not.

Whichever way next week goes, I'll know I can do it, I know that I'm able to do it.  Because regardless what happens in the spandex and nike-clad throngs that will fill the race course next week, I did it on empty back roads over the course of this long summer, when the motivation didn't come in the form of timing chips, finishing medals and cheering crowds - it came from within and knowledge that the commitment to do hard things is really all it takes.

Heroes

Hero's as in "who is yours?" has been on my mind of late.  As kids we're often asked this question, but not so much as adults.  Which is a shame really, as heroes have a real aspirational benefit for each of us I believe.  If your hero is still "Superman" then that's ok, but I think I have a slightly different point to make.

A hero is someone you look up to, someone you want to emulate, and aspire to be more like.  It makes sense when we're kids to look at real or imaginary adults, but as we grow older do you look up to a moral leader, a capabilities leader, a spiritual guide or perhaps a sports or business icon.  Everyone can make their own choices here of course, though I'd suggest it does tell us a little about the person to understand who their own hero is.

I'd like to make an alternative suggestion to our hero choices, and that's the you should aim to be your own hero.  We may all be average people (somebody has to be), but aiming to impress yourself, to really think highly of something you've been able to do, or are challenging yourself to do - let's all aim for heroism from ourselves.  There is no one more important to try to impress.

Japan

...has always fascinated me.  I've been on business a few times, always to Tokyo, though once spent six memorable hours in Kansai  - Osaka's airport - in the middle of the night with my family (incl. two toddlers) after our Cathay Pacific flight needed to unexpectedly stop for fuel enroute from LA.

Japan is the Switzerland of the east - so well run, so efficient and just as picturesque.  From Fuji's iconic silhouette and the cheery blossoms in spring, to the hustle and bustle of Shibuya in downtown Tokyo.  Bullet trains to zen-filled shrines and temples, Japan is magical.

Which is why I've always wanted to spend some time there, get off the grid a little and get to know it more.  So that's what the next few weeks have in store for me and number one son.  I envision getting lost, confused, filled with mind-blowing sushi and sashimi, and various other delicacies we won't be aware of.  Plans including climbing the mountain above, getting to see the Hiroshima Carp in Mazda "Zoom-Zoom" Stadium (best stadium name ever? - I think so) , and sleeping on the floors in many rural inns.

To quote James Bond from You Only Live Twice (the one where he goes undercover in a Japanese fishing village)  and they notice his chest hair "Bird never make nest in bare tree." Japan is anything but a bare tree to me.

Oops

I think I've made a judgement error.  I've elected to join something and it's not turning out the way I'd wanted.  Which sucks.  But, life goes on I guess.

Despite my professional training, I'm wondering if I should linger to see if it gets better, or just depart on whatever terms can be salvaged.

When I made this choice, I knew it could go either way.  But it's still unfortunate.

At times like this, I ask myself if one of my kids came to me with this very situation, what would I tell them... and the answer is that we learn more from our mistakes than we do from our successes.

Some days I really hate learning.

My Apple Watch Experience

I've had the little black watch now for 7 weeks, and for those that like their headlines right up front, I really enjoy it.

I admittedly had a defined use-case up front - I wanted an activity tracker, a watch that could help me with running feedback, and my old watch had experienced an issue that made it unwearable.

The fact that the balance of the interactions would be smart, and I'd get to mess with haptic feedback were all bonuses.

It hasn't disappointed.  The running app is integrated and seems to work well, tracking distances and heart rate to offer a number of mathematically derived conclusions such as pace, caloric burn and so on.  The activity tracker actually does motivate me to get up and to move.  Not a bad thing and it's not really a nag, at least not yet.

The most pleasant surprise has been that my phone stays in my pocket significantly more than it used to.   I heard a characterization of the various types of tech interactions we have using engagement time as the variable. For most things we interact with - the silly emails we all get, the notifications on sports or news that flash up, the watch is perfect for the 2 second glance and dismissal those things deserve.  For slightly more complex engagements, a longer work email to respond to or create, or a website I need to review then the phone is still the best tool with it's deeper interface.  For significantly larger efforts than we revert to laptops to write a paper, do research or capture a spreadsheet meaningfully.  The watch therefore addresses a need I unconsciously had, and for that I've enjoyed it.

There are some nice little things about that exceed expectations too.  It's really very water resistant. I've not swam with it, but it's been soaked numerous times. The haptic feedback when your wrist is tapped is an interesting new way to get involved with your world, and the build quality seems very high, as you'd expect from an Apple product.  Not everything's fantastic - it's much more a slave to the iPhone than I understood initially, and while the battery is good for a day and a half for me, it'd be nice to have it last longer.

I'm sold on the concept of wearables now though.  More so than a laptop, and more so than a phone the form, function and interface are crucial.  The watch seems to me to be the most personal of all the little digital world toys.  I know I'd have a very small tolerance for one of these done poorly, but this one is good and will only get better.

Is all Equality equitable ?

Something struck me today while reading a newspaper.  It wasn't that I was so old to still read a newspaper, but I did enjoy that irony a little.

It was a reference to someone's religious rights conflicting with another's gender rights, and it struck me that perhaps some needs for equitable treatment are more equal, or more important than others.  Is the requirement to create an equitable environment on something I don't control - my gender, my race for example that I'm created with, more important ultimately than something I may choose, such as my religion.

This very very quickly moves into grey areas - sexual orientation and sexual identity for example that are arguably not chosen either, rather some claim that people are born this way.  Importantly, I'm not suggesting we determine the answers here, but I want to pose the question for you to consider.

Many communities are struggling to achieve equality in various areas.  Some of these struggles have been going on for a very very long time.  I think few would argue the merits of equitable treatment in itself, though many have varying lists of who should be equitably treated.  I guess I had never thought through that if all were given equality, then some circumstances would need to be more fairly treated than others when they came into conflict.

Our Planet Isn't in Jeoprady

I've been thinking about this a little - the arguments for and against our environmental actions and how they're destroying our planet.  From the continuing global warming debates, to fracking to electric cars, it's an issue never far from being top of mind.  One thing I take exception to however is something I think we've all heard over and over again - we're destroying the planet. This is just patently false.

Our planet has been here for billions of years and will be here for billions more, until it's barbecued in a natural process when our Sun expands and absorbs it on a molecular level.  We on the other hand are a small blip on that timeline of billions of years, and I'd hasten to predict we won't be here in 7 billion years when the Sun does grow old.  Is it true to say that we've had a far greater effect on the planet than just about any other life form...probably yes if we discount the planets that have shaped the entire atmosphere we currently enjoy.  But our impacts have been faster.  Yay us - take that plants that have been here a couple billion years.

Our planet isn't at risk - we are.  We are changing the environment to make it inhospitable to us at worst, and highly problematic at best for our style of life form.  We'll also take out most of the current animal and flora life with our effects...but then the planet will do what it does - take a few million years and reboot.  It's going to recreate itself, with a new dominant species - perhaps going as far back as simple, complex or multicellular life or maybe it'll be the cockroaches turn.  This isn't new or novel - the Earth has had at least three extinction events we know of.

Where are we in this ?  We're dead.  We killed ourselves.

Our planet ? It will be fine.   Don't believe me ?  Listen to Julia Roberts tell it.

Waking up from the American Dream

Some of you may not like this.  But I'm a believer in the idea that somebody needs to talk about the way things actually are, and not 'spinning' or being 'politically correct'.  There is too much of that in our society and it flies in the face of common sense. That's another post I think.

The issues in America, from domestic terrorism, to gun violence and hate groups and racism, all share a common thread of cause to some degree - the fact that the American dream is dead, and yet no one has admitted this.  To be clear - I'm saying this is contributing factor, not the sole cause.  All of these issues are multifaceted, and some go back hundreds of years, but their continuing prevalence on the front pages in a seemingly healthy, prosperous society baffles unless you look a little deeper.

America is about three things fundamentally - freedom, democracy and capitalism.  These are worn as badges of honor at home and abroad.  Think of the justifications for any foreign policy moves in the last 50 years, and some mix of these three is at the core.  Americans are justifiably proud of the good that has been done in the name of these values.  But the challenge of the American Dream is that there are huge barriers to achieving it, and these barrier and higher and stronger than ever, and most have been erected and are enforced by the very people that overcame them.

1. The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.

It's not simply about hard work and being bright - brighter even.  It's about the root theme that it's possible to accomplish this.  Any child born in the US can grow up to be President, anyone can be smart enough to seize opportunity and achieve wealth and power.  The beautiful thing about the American Dream is that it weaves together freedom, democracy and capitalism in a nationalistic apple pie, a wholesome vision of a personal manifest destiny.  But it doesn't acknowledge  that there groups in place that are very keen on you not realizing it.  They want to keep in place the symbols and structures to keep you down, and make sure you're a cog in the wheel and not the hub.  Those people control the institutions (South Carolina state house; CEO's with unearthly pay; the Koch brothers) and aren't keen on giving up the power that they have.  On the other end are those people that have been fed the American Dream since birth and are so frustrated and angry that it's not real, that they lose it.  There are your anti-government, NRA devout who want 'their America back', and they'll fight to get it.  The destruction of a black church, the killing sprees in public places and the Boston Marathon bombers amongst others were betrayed by their expectations of the American Dream.  Look at the homeless on the inner city streets, or in the heartland of America being fed the soylent green of 'the dream' while their jobs, futures and lives are economically decimated.

I'm not remotely suggesting anyone resorting to violence is correct in their actions, but I will go as far as suggesting that until there is widespread understanding that there has been a significant shift in the United States towards an established, old world style embedded power structure - at the cost of the reality and achievability of the American Dream - then we shall continue to see unease, unrest and violence from those that conclude that there has to be another course of actions to 'fix' America their own way.

Exit Strategy

Perhaps the most oft-forgotten words in the language, this idea, this reality - it comes back to bite almost every time.

We are generally pretty good at beginnings, at births.  We can plan for it, and then even if the planning is done poorly, we can 'deal' with the outcomes.  But the end ?  My gosh (insert suitable word here), no one ever seems to anticipate that things will end.

We all die
There will be a big crunch after the big bang
Businesses fail
Relationships collapse

And life goes on.  We generally (perhaps death and the big crunch excluded) live to fight on another day in a  new way, one that perhaps wasn't foreseen but it still manageable.  It's the ugly face of change.  It amazes me that we still build ideas and institutions with complex and involved joining rituals, and yet very little attention is paid to the exit - the other end where things are bound to go.

I look at Europe today, and the whole economic tragedy that is Greece and wonder how so many people can toil for long periods without imagining that at some point, nations with fewer resources (and perhaps a sense of entitlement) wouldn't be able to pay their bills, and so will need to be gently, and lovingly evicted.  It's ok - some things weren't meant to continue forever.

Whatever we each do in the future, plan for an end.  Because the guy walking with the sign board - he was right -  the end is coming, and the question really isn't if, it's when.

I Bought an Apple Watch

So you're asking...why ?

Interestingly, it was the same question I asked. I was looking for the "use case" - the rationale to spend the money. I found it in the tradeoff in wanting a fitness tracking device, and in the chance to explore wearables - to see what they could do.  It doesn't hurt that my old watch was broken.

I almost didn't pull the trigger. The lead times were a turn off, conditioned as I am, as we are, to instant gratification.  And I'd have preferred to have it available in store.  Alas, we can't always get what we want.

In this case, I've tried one on, and it feels remarkably high quality. The case is aluminium and therefore the lightest of the options available.  And the band is some rubber-y compound.  I did enjoy the tactile pulse feeling on my wrist while wearing it.  But I'm old school in some ways, and still miss Blackberry''s little red flashing light.  So go figure.

I'm looking forward to exploring it and will try to keep you updated as to my opinions and findings.

Did it

There is no rhyme, nor reason.

There is no prep that puts you in the 'right' mind-frame before-hand.

There is only you, and the road.

I achieved a personal best - the best in the last 10 years, and just slightly behind my all time best, when I was younger, fitter and more sane.

But I'd be hard-pressed to replicate it, as I'm not sure what I did to make it go right.  I just know it felt good.

Head Games

I've got a race coming up this weekend, my 3rd half marathon in the past six months.  And it's gotten into my head.

I've run the distance many times, and I've been in more than few races, the latest a 10k this past weekend. I even got a personal best at that one.  But there's something about the word 'marathon' that starts eating at me days in advance...those niggling, wiggly little negative thoughts that say "you can't do it."   I think these worries are largely unfounded.  This one coming up is primarily downhill,  its the perfect running weather for me, and while I'm referring to it as a race, the only race going on really is between my legs and my expectations. I can go as slow as I want.

Still though.

There's something about the large group of uber-fit looking people, all ropey-muscled and lithe standing together, adjusting tight clothing, aerodynamic sunglasses and various bits of technology that makes you think we were all on a moon mission rather than a couple hours jog this Sunday morning.  The adrenaline starts pumping and you go out of the gate at a faster clip than intended. And at about 3-4k's, I bonk.  Bonking is a word I've appropriated here to mean hitting a mental wall.  It's using up your easy energy and having to reach down deep.  Bonking at 15-18k's is fine, as you power through those last few steps (I think I can, I think I can..), but when it happens so close to the start, within 15-20 minutes of the beginning it seems an unsurmountable mountain to finish the course.

Running isn't hard, and it takes place between your ears as much as between your feet as so many challenges seem to.  But the mental prep is critical, and when it starts turning south (I haven't trained enough; I needed to lose that extra 10lbs to make it easy) the race anticipation goes into a nightmare. There's a school of running thought that says - just run your own race and enjoy the day, do your best, it's all you can ask.  That's fine, and intellectually I might even agree with that.  But I grew up
listening and internalizing a philosophy embodied by a little green guy that went - Do or do not, there is no try.

So the race has already begun for me, I'm running while doing other tasks this week, and while I sleep. When I get to the finish line on Sunday, it will have been a long race, and a well earned mental and physical rest.

Understanding Motivation

I heard a comment today made by a member of my family, and it helps shed light on what I've been seeing lately - a question I hadn't asked about the source of motivation.

It's interesting what motivates us, as it isn't always clear.  I wouldn't have guessed the answer, and it highlights the importance to me of listening, even when you think you already know the answer.

The Measure of a Life

This phrase has haunted me of late.  It's part of the lyrics of a song I really like, but the harmonic that touched me was more about what's going on today around me.

I've been trying to determine how to get my head around the measure of one's life by somehow defining that yardstick and holding myself up to it.  This has come about due to personal circumstance changes, but I see others also struggling with this - often without recognizing the nature of their predicament.  I can share the struggle itself doesn't feel very good and drives self doubt and worry when our preconceived ideas no longer align to the current situation we may find ourselves in.  This can happen in a range of ways - employed to being unemployed or retired; married to unmarried and so on. 

How we value ourselves and deal with changes in our situations often tests our long term view (I am talking after-all of the measure of one's life moreso than the measure of a year or other period).  So in some ways my own "ah-ha moment" arrived when I recognized the unacknowledged variable here - time.  As in the shorter periods where we can't see above the waves currently around us.  But that doesn't mean we're drifting the wrong way, it simply means we can't see how we'll get there from the current vantage-point. 

Admittedly it's hard to do course corrections if you don't have a destination, a heading, or an idea where you are at any precise moment. But that's the very nature of the question here I think.   While the pathway was never going to straight, if we have an idea where we want to go, we'll be able to navigate to be able to get there. 

I don't think there is a universal truth here - what the measure of a life is (So long, and thanks for all the fish), rather, there is an answer we can each be at peace with and it is different for each of us. The trick is to be comfortable with your own answer, and then lean into it. 

Motivation - Keys to Crime Solving & Sales

When the police are trying to "solve" a crime, the tend to focus on a few key factors to optimize the pathway to success for speed - and one of these is motive.  In the best situations, I think it's very similar to when a sales person is trying to sell on a B2B basis.

As a disclaimer, I'll offer that I help experienced sales people sell more effectively - it's my day-to-day job.  So there's a chance I see similarities everywhere, where none really exists.  So - keep me honest in this argument I'm going to make.

(As another aside, I use the word argument to indicate that this is an un-tested opinion that I believe has merit. Like anything read on the inter-web, question me, disagree and form your own opinions - and always do that, as most stuff online is ill-conceived opinion whether on a blog like this, or on what is supposed to be a real news site)

Motive is the "why", and understanding the why helps narrow the field of potential suspects down significantly.  In criminal investigations, I've heard that something north of 90% of crimes are committed by someone the victim knows.  So, by playing the statistics and examining the why, the authorities are able to eliminate unlikely culprits much faster than by simply looking at "how".  

In professional selling there's a tremendous amount of focus on the "how", and I'll argue here that its the wrong question to ask.  There's a tendency to think about competing products, their features and pricing almost exclusively.   Sales people get caught up in it, instead of examining what is causing the customer to act - their motive.  When this latter area becomes the primary discussion point, then the whole dynamic of interaction changes and the game is played by rules the salesperson sets effectively.

Think of it this way - if I offer you two options - A and B, and ask you to decide between them, you will look at each, and debate their merits, price and so on.  Then you'll make a decision.  You may (but probably won't) vocalize your decision making criteria.  In this example, the fear of the seller of either option will be that their offerings can't stand up against its competition.  Now let's look at the same kind of situation differently.  Instead of passively playing along to the point of offering your option as a seller of either A or B, you engage the customer and work to understand the issue that they are trying to address.  What exactly is their desired outcome in sourcing an option. What purpose does it serve, what else is involved, and what is the end-use situation.  What's in it for them to do this...

In this revised motive-centric approach, the option we as sellers put in front of the client is more tailored to their need, and may end up being a different option than what the customer first sought. When it does come time to make a decision, the customer had engaged with you and explored their own situation and has an awareness that your option addresses the need they have.  You're more likely to win the sale with the awareness of motive.

Why don't more salespeople do this ?  That's unclear, but I suspect (another opinion here) it's because there is all sorts of silliness around selling skills  - it's an art, it's about who you know, etc - that covers up the need to follow a professional, systematic approach.  Going back to our crime scene..it's the equivalent to hiring a psychic to help the force.

Next up - the alibi.

Spooling Up

I had ideas about what I was going to try to capture here.  Then spellcheck suggested "spoiled up".  And the irony struck me of what getting back up to speed really means.

I'd like to deconstruct this a little if I may. Spooling means winding up and the "speed" part of getting back up to speed implies a positive outcome.  And that is the assumption here I find worth challenging.  We revel in the "I'm so busy, lots going on", world we inhabit as if it's a good thing.  Getting tighter, more wound up seems to be the desired goal.  Yet anytime we read any kind of deep, insightful perspective, it's all about disconnecting and appreciating the moment, savouring each breathe for what it is.  We fool ourselves that busy=good I think, and that being wound tightly is the state we should aim for.  But I'm not buying it.  I think the better phrase to deal with an increase in activity should be - "Looking to maintain a new balance".  We may have more on our plates, but we want to deal with all of it in a way that isn't compromising ourselves.  If the net result of my spool-ed up-ness is the requirement that I chill for a while, then my cadence is probably off, and I should have been approaching whatever tasks I face in a  different way.

It is after-all a marathon, not a sprint.