Learn To Live And Let Live!

Just go about your way, if somebody annoys you.

To be annoyed or not be annoyed – it is your choice. People can behave in ways that irritate us or upset us, yet avoid letting them get to you. We have choices that allow us to move around, move through and move on, to the next place of most potential. We need not subject ourselves to prolonged pain and agony.

Practise patience, endurance, consideration and respect. Suspend judgement for a while. After all, we are entitled to our own opinions (and these can be temporal and abstract things). Steven Covey wrote that we have our own Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern. What are you doing to affect both spaces around you? How can you expand one and contract the other?

Leadership Lessons: Learn to let go. Proceed to the next useful piece. If something isn’t working, do something else. Instead of changing them, we can change our mind, judgements and perceptions of them. Work with what is within your circle of influence and control.

It May Not Hurt (Much) to Take A Break

The reality is, few people will be fondly remembered for coming to work early, leaving later than others. That is old school and out of date. Result and performance matter more, than putting in the lengthy, unpaid, overtime hours. We are the sum of our efforts, but not because of it. Effectiveness and efficiency ranks higher than people who look busy, are unproductive, and slow in their movements.

One thing we can draw from triathlons and journalism is: fail to meet the deadlines, and you are done. It is painful to watch swimmers being dragged out of the swim leg of the Ironman triathlon for failing to meet the 2 hour 20 minutes cut-off timing. You have 17 hours (exactly) to complete the 226K of swim, ride and run. You need to respect the stringent guidelines for each discipline/phase, for therein lies the challenge of sports. Faster, stronger and higher – these are and to be the Olympic ideals.

If your work-life dominates your entire being, then it may be eminent that you may seriously need to take a break. Request for the nearest duration of leave days you can use. Workaholics are employees who allow their work to dominate and desecrate their lives. All work and no plays, does dull your mind and body. If you choose to bring work home, you do it out of your choice. If you think it spells into future results, do it for deliberate and clear reasons.

If you think that as a marathoner, that you must do 70-90 kilometres a week of running then that is your belief. If another runner attains similar if not better results than you do with less mileage, then you need to recognise that. There are many variables to factor in for sporting excellence, and over-training may not be one of them. Some of our elite age-group runners run only three times a week, and supplement this activity with cross-training: star-climbing, hill-running, weight-training, core stability work, cycling, swimming, and others.

I just took a two-day hiatus from work and endurance training and did some travel. One of the physical discomforts I experienced was newly found, soreness and stiffness in some of my muscles. I may have exercised some muscle groups used in retail-therapy, or it could be my body responding to rest. When muscles heal during inactivity, they may feel weak and sore. Fret not – it is merely nature’s way of repairing overworked muscles and weaving a stronger fabric. That way, you will be cut out for the work when you begin training or racing.

Leadership Lessons: Take time to smell the flowers. If you are Type-A, learn to slow down occasionally. If you are pushy, hold back your forcefulness. Push through with your earnestness; yet pull with your influence. There are more to life than work and play; explore, discover and enjoy. Work less, however work effectively.

Learn By Speaking To Experts

Dr Cal Lightman is an expert on lie-detection in the hit TV series. It is based on real-life social anthropologist, Dr Ekman's work and research on facial recognition and micro-gestures.

One of the lessons in business and in endurance sports I have learnt is: Talk to experts.

This approach seems to be a common pattern among people of excellence. Virgin Group founder, Richard Branson suggested that he ‘surrounds himself with experts’. He manages this ‘team’, while they help manage his numerous businesses he has created. Macro-manage instead of micro-manage. Tap on the expert’s expertise and breadth of working experience. Learn to leverage on their lessons.

I was at Adidas retail-outlets last week, looking for minimalist shoes to train and race in. I met one of their experts, Sean who asked me questions about my running needs. He surprised me pleasantly by identifying some of my discrepancies about my feet; I had a broken toe that has caused my foot to be slightly wider. Together, we decided on the most comfortable shoe size, design and weight for my running needs. I respectfully asked him questions that intrigued me, however naïve or ignorant I may have sounded. Ask, and ye shall find.

Working with an expert such as a coach – whether in sports, business or career – can be an edifying experience. You learn much about collaboration, perspectives, and developing capability. You also learn to recognize the values of performance, respect, potential, broad-mindedness, and choice. When choosing to work with experts, interview them as you would any job candidate. How close do they fit your profile and expectation? How wide is their experience? Which unique skill-sets would you find complementary? Which personality type would you prefer? Would you prefer an astute critic, or an engaging encourager?

A coach who walks their talk is highly relevant. Being consistent in their thoughts, words and deeds is important. Certainly, coaching is a partnership. Once you engage a coach, you will need to trust them and the process. You will have to commit to the active processes of exploration, analyses and prescription. Constant feed forward and feedback are crucial pieces of the strategic equation for performance.

If you are keen to enhance your swimming performance during a race, here is an expert’s opinion.

If you would like to change your tire, and this is crucial during a race when the technical support team is not immediately available. It is important to be self-sufficient through your technical skills and working knowledge.

Does Peer Pressure Power Your Communication?

Peer pressure can be an overwhelming thing when you are a teenager. To belong to a group, and to carve out your identity you bow to the team’s ideals and rules. Socially, peer pressure or majority-ruled actions determine if you are in, or out. The Inclusion/Exclusion principle operates, whether we like it or not; either we are in, or we are out.

In adulthood, peer pressure can be a positive force of influence. Directed and led properly, this style of influence can engage others outside of the circle of influence. Also, he impact of peer pressure will be determined by choice. The more choices we have, the more flexible we are. Other people’s influence can be only so effective when we lack choices, and thus cannot decide on our outcomes.

Social running groups are a recently emerging phenomenon. Neophytes join these clubs, which offer basic instruction on endurance running; they progress gradually until they complete their first 10K race. These groups are Tribes, and they propagate and promote their cause with alarming enthusiasm and fervour. Peer pressure can act through mass participation of a local or overseas race.

The same goes for those who seek extraordinarily longer distance, and across varied and challenging terrain. These foot races carry the subscribers through mountain trails, desert, man-made structures and water. Having stated the challenging conditions, those who complete relish in their sense of accomplishment and achievement.

Who says peer pressure can be all that bad?

Leadership Lessons: How often do you cave in to peer pressure? Where are your sources of peer pressure? How often do you rally these sources of peer pressure to assist you in building value, such as acts of charity and altruism?

Lead With Your Values: Choice & Courage for Enhanced Performance

Your values matter! Every moment that you interact with somebody, you are expressing your values. Even during a race, you are exuding expressions of your values. Values support our beliefs, and both prop up our behaviors. Choice determines if we do something, or nothing. Yesterday morning, hundreds stepped into the holding pen of the Big Splash area to be flagged off for either an 18K or 30K run. To sleep in, or to run a hard race - what's your choice?

Courage is activated when we intend to complete a mission. This value takes on many forms: from deciding to signing-up for an event to training for it. It is expressed not just as bravery, but also daring to do something in the face of adversity and doubt. To plunge into a physical challenge while poorly prepared, is a demonstration of stupidity and recklessness. Planning, following a plan, making adjustments, considering feedback and learning from your mistakes add up to Performance. We need to measure, and measure up to expectations.

My friend, physically-challenged athlete Singapore Blade Runner activated his sense of courage yesterday. As such, many supporters expressed their recognisation for this leader in our running community. Mohd Shariff was inspired by a double-amputee world-class sprinter when he lost his left stump in 2008; and he now runs for many worthwhile and worthy causes. His leadership value saved his life when he switched his perspective – I am proud to call him my friend and one of my running inspirations.

Leadership Lessons: Which value are you expressing at this moment? Which values are parts of your signature? How do you breathe life into your personal values? How do you express yourself clearly as a leader? Who inspires you, and which part of their expression affects you positively? Do you sell with your values, or is it just another transaction?

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Yesterday’s morning race yielded a windfall of photographs for me - thank you, my friends for your consideration! I was so intent on completing the tough race that I was less aware of my surroundings at some points. One friend teased me as being proud, as I did not respond to his call. I was nursing early symptoms of a cough that I refocused my energies to other mind games; thus, I occasionally overlooked external cues. Perhaps it is time for me to get a new set of eyeshades, to give the illusion that I am watching my surrounds.

My focus throughout the two-loop challenge was to focus on my running gait, being relaxed, and engaging my intuition. I hoped to marry all these factors and have a good performance. I am pleased to announce that I did, and my decision to stay alert to my internal balance, awareness and senses equated to a personal best timing.

Photo-credit: Le Giang & Teh Eng Tiong

My Open-Water Swimming Sessions Resume

This morning, I met up with our regular lagoon swimmers. It has been a while since I swam with them, as I had been working on Saturday mornings. Now that that gig is over, I can now resume my swimming development. Other than the occasional diversion from floating debris, sea-parasites and one jellyfish I had a taste of the sea and being at the end of the obviously well-trained swim-pack. I was glad for sticking to the 4-lap menu, and I was aware of my lack of aquatic fitness. However, I was pleased to swim only in my swimming tights, my cap, goggles and my imagination (which was rampant and abundant, at times). I look forward to Monday’s pool swim with the squad as my strokes are more steady and I am more buoyant. I need to focus on building reliable speed and endurance to prepare for Ironman New Zealand 2012.

At the Marina 21K Run held in July, the emcee Ross conducted an impromptu interview with a Kenyan participant, and asked him his time for his fastest half-marathon. The candid reply was ‘1 hour 2 minutes!’ Hailed as one of the best distance-running nations, Kenya has continued to produce world-class champions. Have you ever wonder what it is like being a professional distance runner? How would a Kenyan runner train? It is not necessarily a bed or roses! I enjoyed this read, and it led to some shifts of my mindsets about these amazing athletes. What do you think?

Today, I went to the polls to elect our new national President from a choice of four candidates. Each of them possessed leadership qualities, and expressed their values clearly. It will be a close call come results time. For each voter, it is our personal show of leadership: to demonstrate our decisiveness, diligence and discernment.

Leadership Lessons: Make a choice. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each choice. Make an informed choice, rather than an infirmed and random one. Decide and stand by it. Live and learn.

Making Advances & Advancing Forward

“If a man advances confidently in the directions of his dreams to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.  He will pass an invisible boundary: new, universal and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.” – Henry David Thoreau

What is your dream job? What would be your dream working conditions? How would you know if you have achieved these conditions? How would you heighten your sense of well being during ‘common hours’?

The fact is that, as endurance athletes, we can train at unusual and uncommon hours. We have many choices. Sleep in and train in the evening; or arise early and train before breakfast and the early shift. Isn’t it a wonder that races take place on weekends AND weekdays? There are morning races (Ironman 70.3 Singapore; Singapore Marathon), as well as evening ones (Sundown Marathon/Ultra; Marina21K; Northface 100).

Take steps forward by shifting your variables. Move them around. Tweak them. Advance confidently towards your life!