Know thyself, know thy limits

It’s been a fun weekend. I participated in the CitySolve Urban Race San Jose, kind of like the Amazing Race, but it’s local to your city and anyone can sign up. Partnered with two other people — none of us know the downtown San Jose area very well; we had never met each other before today (it was organized through meetup.com). And yet, after 3 hours of running through the city, finding random landmarks, soliciting random strangers to do poses and take pictures for us, we ended up coming in 2nd place (officially, 4th place because we had to take another picture after one of my iPhone pics didn’t come out–stupid Apple!). Unfortunately, because we’re a team of 3, we couldn’t quality for the prizes anyway, but it was a blast!

Keys to our success:

• Technology: iPhone 4 + Wikipedia + Google map
• Local-ish knowledge: None of us were from the area, but one team member know the bus routes well enough for us to take advantage of it.
• Lady luck: By a  luck and on the fly planning, we tackled the challenges in an efficient order.
• Perseverance: We ran/jogged most of the race, covering at least 3 miles on the ground. We had a team member with a sharp eye that spotted things pretty well, and also had key phone-a-friend contacts.

It was great–we played to our strengths. The downer was after the race, when I thought, I feel fine. I’m on an adrenaline high from this adventure, time for our regular weekend  football! Half an hour into the play I’m chasing down a receiver and my leg just gives out from under me and I spend the next 15 minutes writhing in pain. Muscle spasms aren’t fun, kids. Don’t do them.

DO do the urban race with me next year though! There will be 5 in the Bay Area — 2 in SF, 1 in the East Bay, 1 in San Jose, and I can’t remember the last.

Status Quo

[Delayed post written on Tuesday, September 14]

I’m writing this on a plane coming back from a week on the east coast. It’s been a good experience, and I’ve loved [almost] every moment of it. It was absolutely refreshing to immerse myself in a completely different environment. I’d started to become too.. comfortable. Too settled into routine in the Bay Area.

Funny thing is, I love routines. I crave that kind of structure in my life. I’m not a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of guy that wakes up every morning with no idea what’s going to happen that day, no sense of direction. Drives me absolutely nuts. But I do believe there’s a risk in becoming too accepting of the status quo. That point where lethargy settles in and you’re not really going anywhere but it’s comfortable so hey, why change things?

I’ll tell you why. It’s my belief that everyone’s “life graph” of experiences, development, where you are in life, should be constantly changing. Like the heartbeat shown on the monitor in the emergency room; there are going to be highs and lows, but there’s something to be gained from every experience. The only time you ever lose something is  when you do nothing. Like in the hospital ward, a flat life graph essentially means you’re dead.

live.laugh.love.

Clichéd, but I think I’ve rekindled my inspiration. What I won’t be doing is tagging each entry X/365. That’s too much pressure. Too much of a routine. I know I have lots of stuff to share. A lot of life to live. To give. And it’ll be up here–perhaps not every day. Or every other day. Perhaps in bursts. Inspiration isn’t something you can force–or should force–on a daily basis. It ebbs and flows freely. Like life, you just gotta go with it. Live in the moment.

Be.

The Climb

This post might also be aptly titled, “lessons from rock climbing.” Hit up Planet Granite today with a group of friends, none of whom had gone to an indoor rock climbing gym. It was a fun(ny) experience. So the way indoor rock climbing works (bouldering, to be specific) is that while you can just climb straight up the wall using any of the holds on there, the proper way to do so is to follow the markers. Each hand/foot hold has a colored tag on it, and you’re only allowed to touch holds with the same color, each indicating a set path up the wall. The “trails” have a number assigned, ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 is the easiest and the difficulty increases exponentially. To put it in perspective, the average person should be able to do a V0, even if it takes a few tries. A V1-2 requires more finger strength than a newcomer would normally have. Around a V4-5 you start heading into the “you’ve got to be kidding me” range. And if you can climb a V10, you should be swinging from building to building at night in red and blue spandex fighting crime..

But let’s get to the highlights, some of the tidbits of wisdom:

1) Planning pays off. If you do not plan out your route up before you hit the wall, you will get lost and confused on the way up, lose valuable time and energy, and quite possibly, not make it up. It’s as much about strategically planning your hand/foot placement ahead of time, as it is about having the physical ability to haul yourself up.

2) Teamwork=bonding. In the situations where you DO get stuck up on the wall, not sure where your next hold is, it’s nice to have a spotter on the ground guiding you. Take that back-it’s invaluable.

3) Fortune favors the bold. Do an easy one for warm-up, but then jump right into the harder paths. Because climbing does take a lot of energy out of you, and if you spend all day doing easy ones, you won’t have the energy to finish off the challenges.

4) Experience makes you thick skinned. Literally in this case.

147/365.

Management

[Not my original work, but entertained me enough to share]

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, ‘Can I also sit like you and do nothing?’ The eagle answered: ‘Sure, why not.’ So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

146/365.

Diplomacy

A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip. — Caskie Stinnett

In the complex society we live in today, it’s not enough just to be right, to be the smartest, to be the wisest. You’ve got to be able to convey and impart that knowledge in a way that leads pragmatic real-life results. I guess you could be a hermit and discover the meaning of life, achieve Nirvana, etc, and take that secret with you to the grave. Who knows, perhaps that has happened already in the course of human history. But then, if no one knows of your achievements, if you have no legacy, did you really do anything? Did you even exist? That’s a different existential debate we’ll leave off this time.

Point is, communication is an essential skill. Communication, empathy, and self-awareness. You don’t need to be able to make someone look forward to a trip to hell. But you do need to be able to tell someone “no, you’re doing it wrong” in a constructive manner. One that gets the point across without ruffling any feathers. And this is where empathy and self-awareness come into play–because it’s important to be aware of the effects your actions and words have on people, and in turn, understand how they see you, what your reputation is. You may think you’re doing a good job by telling them how badly constructed their slidedeck is, but once you turn around they start talking to their neighbor about what a micromanaging egomaniac you are. Strive to emulate Bill Clinton instead of Donald Trump.

A good leader is one who is diplomatic, who not only knows and can make the right decisions, but also gather, coordinate, and motivate the talent to be successful. Think of the hub on a wheel that connects the spokes together and makes the wheel turn.

146/365.

No Excuses

It’s been what–over a week since I last posted. It’s an absolute sham, really. What started as a Project 365, posting one entry a day for a year, isn’t even a Project 56 anymore. Pathetic. I’m sorry guys. I’m back. For reals. No excuses.

Excuses are curious things. Handy things. Ubiquitous things. A crutch when we don’t want to do something. When we’re afraid to do something. Common ones for me were “I’m tired. I’m sleepy. It’s too late.” No more. No excuses.

As humans we are creatures of habit. We get accustomed to certain behaviors after some repetition until it’s hard to think of doing anything else. It was easy to blog when I first started this project because I was used to doing it every day. But after a few days of coming home tired, not bothering to write anything. That became the new norm. The nice thing about habits is that they can be unlearned and relearned. No excuses.

145/365.

Emote

Sat through a 40 minute presentation today. What really stood out to me was the speaker’s energy level and dynamic throughout. It always just kills me to see someone in front of an audience nervously fidgeting, his inflection on each point slanting upwards, seeking approval. Or even worse, a monotonous drone that’s more efficient than any lullaby. But no, this guy was solid. Confident, he spoke with authority, refusing to be fazed by any of the barrage of questions we fielded at him. Ultimately, he’ll be judged by his content as well as his depth of knowledge as well, but these kinds of presentations are what make Mondays a little more enjoyable. The silver lining, if you will.

Now, how do you become a speaker like this? Well, first and foremost — you gotta know your stuff. To speak with authority, you must be an authority. But even the brightest experts can easily lose their audience. The other component is simply to emote. We’re all human. We’re emotional beings. Fuck that stoicism shit. We take a lot of our communication in through visual cues. Facial cues. Whether we consciously notice it or not. Captivate us. Show that passion when you speak. (I’d actually say the best way to learn is to watch stand-up comedy. The best comics are able to convey the full range of human emotions at will).

: -)

144/365.

Learning Styles

A discussion came up at work today about different types of learning styles, and it prompted me to do some more research on this topic. I’m sure we all realize that people learn in different ways. But it essentially boils down to three distinct learning styles: visual, audio, and experiential. Just for fun, I threw in analogies to that old gameshow, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

1) Visual. These are the people that like to learn by seeing. Reading. Mimicking. Stuck on a problem? Let’s see what Google has to say. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire lifeline of choice: 50/50.

2) Audio. Much better at following verbal instructions. Learning by hearing. Reading outloud. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire lifeline of choice: Phone a friend.

3) Kinesthetic or Experiential: These people learn by doing. Need to be active. Trial and error.Who Wants To Be A Millionaire lifeline of choice: Ask the audience.

Note that these aren’t mutually exclusive. You might have different learning styles depending on the task at hand. I know for me, I can’t follow verbal instructions at all. I’m very experiential. I learn by doing. Tinkering around. Stop staring at instructions. Let’s just give it a shot. But on the other hand, I also learn well by seeing. In class I’d always take tons of notes, neatly organized to study from later. (Though, that’s about where the visual part ends–I rarely read textbooks if I could help it).

Some of you probably just read a particular learning style on this list and thought: “Yep, that’s me!” Which is good. It’s always good to understand yourself. But for those of you that are more unsure, here’s a nice website with explanations and s short to determine your style: http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/

143/365.

Decision Trees

I don’t follow basketball much, but watching the Lebron James drama unfold was fascinating. I mean, the guy’s what, 25? And he’s making a decision that’s essentially determining his entire legacy. The biggest decision of his life. One that will ultimately decide what history remembers him as. How can you make that kind of decision at 25? From what I understand, he had 3 options:

Loyalty: Stay with the Cavaliers, in the city that revered him.

Championship: His best shot would’ve been with the Chicago Bulls, but the Miami Heat fits here as well.

Legacy: Join the Knicks and play in Madison Square Garden.

He decides to go with the Heat, joining his friends Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Apparently, the three of them made some kind of pact to play together when they trained for the Beijing Olympics. As an ill-informed NBA noob, this sounds like a pretty immature decision. Join a team with your friends. A team that will have 3 superstars, but not much else. Win a championship. Excuse me? Last I checked, basketball was a team sport. Even if you have the three best guys in the league (which they may or may not be), you can’t win with just those three alone.

Also, from what I understand, the reason why Cleveland couldn’t bring in better players was because Lebron demanded such a high salary that were was little cap space left. Why couldn’t he have just taken a pay cut to bring in more talented players and win it all? The New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady has done that in the past; as did the New Orleans Saints’  coach Sean Payton in recruiting defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Seems like the King’s ego was too big for Ohio.

NBA fans, how far off the mark am I here with my understanding?

142/365.

Happy Fourth!

(Image from Slate.com)

On that note, I really wish there were more places to view fireworks displays in the south bay.

141/365.