Author: Craig Constantine

Ā§7 ā€“ Exercise →

Published April 18, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 18

This entry is part 7 of 13 in the series Changes and Results

Exercise is not about weight loss.

Exercise builds physical ability and mental health.

For me, it began when I fell in love– with a bicycle.

The story of a boy and his bicycle

Long after college, way down in my downward death spiral, I bought a cheap mountain bicycle. Today, I don’t recall what possessed me to even want to buy a bike. I guess it just reminded me of the freedom I’d discovered when as a kid I first set out on a bicycle.

At the time, we were living in an apartment a short ride from a long park that followed a meandering creek. The park has long trailsā€”some asphalt, some packed gravelā€”that follow the creek, and it has a few, short, side trails that almost resemble mountain biking.

I fell in love.

I fell in lust is probably more accurate.

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Nancy Lorentz: Cancer, PK Move, and parkour spirit →

Published April 17, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 17  ·  

Nancy Lorentz: Cancer, PK Move, and parkour spirit

What impact can parkour have on recovery and personal growth after a serious health challenge?

Nancy Lorentz opens up about her experience fighting cancer, and the role that parkour played in her recovery. She unpacks how her recovery inspired the idea of PK Move, and shares her ā€˜parkour origin story.ā€™ Nancy discusses her thoughts on parkourā€™s growth and spirit, PK Moveā€™s current goals, and finishes with her insights on how to attract older individuals to parkour.

[A]t the time of the diagnosis and going forward from there, I was not thinking about how parkour was part of this until afterward. I think once you are in that situation, you’re just going through the steps and getting through the treatment and what you have to doā€” the surgery or whatever. The fact is that, it did occur to me afterwardā€” I thought, oh my gosh, [yes.] I really do say that parkour saved my life.

~ Nancy Lorentz (5:13)

Nancy Lorenz shares her personal journey of surviving cancer and how parkour became a crucial part of her recovery. She describes how the physical and mental resilience built through parkour helped her endure treatment and how this experience inspired her to co-found PK Move, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing parkour to underserved communities. The conversation covers her introduction to parkour, the challenges she faced during and after her illness, and how the supportive community around her played a significant role in her healing process.

The discussion highlights the mission and vision of PK Move, which focuses on providing adaptive parkour training to individuals who may face barriers to participating in traditional gym environments. Nancy details how PK Move brings parkour directly to people in their own communities, particularly targeting older adults and cancer survivors. Additionally, she reflects on the broader impact of parkour and the importance of preserving its core philosophy as it expands into mainstream fitness spaces.

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All things →

Published April 17, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 17  ·  

One day Iā€™ll be a filmmaker! One day Iā€™ll be a famous artist! One day Iā€™ll be a CEO! One day Iā€™ll be a Creative Director! One day Iā€™ll be a Venture Capitalist! And so forth.

Then you get to a certain age and you realize that the time for ā€œOne Dayā€ is over. Youā€™re either doing it, or youā€™re not. And if youā€™re not, a feeling of bitter disappointment starts hitting you deep into the marrow. Which explains why we all know so many people in their 30s and 40s having mid-life crisisā€™.

~ Hugh MacLeod

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Whether I’m different, or have already passed through that, I know not. What I can tell you is that my problem is not at all a feeling of not doing what I want to do.

My problem is the feeling that I am doing too many different things. All things I’ve chosen. All things which I’m passionate about. All things which are cool, rewarding, meaningful and make the world a better place.

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Thoughtful, committed citizens →

Published April 15, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 15  ·  

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. It is the only thing that ever has.

~ Margaret Mead

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I don’t scale →

Published April 14, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 14  ·  

No matter where your adventure takes you, most of what is truly meaningful is still to be found revolving around the mundane stuff you did before you embarked on your adventure. The stuff thatā€™ll be still be going on long after you and I are both dead, long after our contribution to the world is forgotten.But often, one needs to have that big adventure before truly appreciating this. Going full circle. Exactly.

~ Hugh MacLeod

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I like this idea because it means that today, things are as bad as it can get.

I’m already super-busy, super-stressed, super-anxious, super-self-critical and super-distracted. I’m pretty sure that finishing another projectā€”just. one. more!ā€”is not going to magically fulfill me. Somehow this lesson is easy to understand but hard to knowā€¦ hard to integrate.

But “scale”? That’s something I really understand. I understand what happens with something that can scale, and something that cannot scale. So if humansā€”i.e., meā€”don’t scale, why do I keep trying to make me scale?

  É•

PK Move: Community partnership, programs, and seniors →

Published April 10, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 10  ·  

PK Move: Community partnership, programs, and seniors

What factors contribute to the success of PK Moveā€™s mission to make Parkour accessible to underserved communities and older adults?

PK Move founders Nancy Lorentz, Jean Lam, and Rosy Noguchi sit down to discuss everything PK Move; how they started, the challenges they face as a non-profit, and the unique relationship they have with their community. The team explains PK Moveā€™s mission, the specific groups they serve, and the programs they run, including their PK Silver seniors program. They unpack the details of the recent study conducted on the PK Silver program before delving into the pop-up playground program, and their current goals and opportunities.

We wanted to go to them, people who had some barrier to getting to the gym. Sometimes it is financial. Sometimes it is being intimidated.

~ Nancy Lorentz (10:50)

PK Moveā€™s founders discuss their nonprofitā€™s mission to bring Parkour to underserved populations, particularly seniors and communities with limited access to traditional fitness facilities. They detail the origins of PK Move, describing how personal experiences and a shared passion for Parkour led them to develop programs that focus on inclusivity, confidence-building, and strength development. A major part of their work includes the PK Silver program, designed for older adults, which offers step-by-step Parkour training tailored to the needs of participants with low fitness levels.

The conversation explores the challenges PK Move faces as a nonprofit, such as fundraising and obtaining grants. They explain how they forged partnerships with local governments and community organizations to provide free and low-cost classes. The team highlights the success of their recent study, which demonstrates the effectiveness of PK Silver in improving cardiovascular health and strength among participants aged 60 to 80. Additionally, they touch on their pop-up Parkour playground initiative, which brings portable Parkour equipment to community parks to encourage physical activity in children and families.

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Let the news come →

Published April 10, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 10  ·  

And what better use could you make of that time? A day that could be your last ā€” you want to spend it in worry? In what other area could you make some progress while others might be sitting on the edges of their seat, passively awaiting some fate? Let the news come when it does. Be too busy working to care.

~ Ryan Holiday

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Irrelevant →

Published April 9, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 9  ·  ,

At the dawn of the internet, posting a commercial message was the indicator used by everyone to point and say, “that is spam.”

This was a huge mistake. Because it led to a deep rabbit-hole of requiring us to answer the question: Is this message commercial?

I think it’s commercial? …do you? Wait what is “commercial” is it any time we exchange any amount of value? That’d be two people talking! “Commercial” isn’t inherently bad… Ok, but we need to agree so we can make a decision! Is “we” a few of us in this space, or does the poster’s opinion matter? Does their “street credit” in the space affect how much we value their opinion? Maybe we can rate-limit how many border-line-commercial messages each person can… Oh, wait, I know! Let’s appoint someone to be the arbiter of this space and… deep. deep. rabbit. hole.

And we went to great length to try to place (move, cajoul, beg, etc) the commercial stuff into designated areas.

It’s not commercial that is the problem. SURPRISE is the problem. If something is unexpected, it better be perceived as desired. It’s not the content of the message (post, email, phone, whatever) that matters, it’s the recipient’s REACTION that matters.

That phone call at dinner from the caller ID you do not recognizeā€”unexpected and undesiredā€”spam!

The garage that fixed my car that later robo-calls me to beg me to 5-star rate themā€”unexpected and undesiredā€”spam!

The web site pop-up dialog talking about…ā€”spam!

So the first challenge is to get control of the channels. I’ve moved away from anything where random people can easily interrupt me. (Where “moved away” means everything from literally eliminate said thing, to change or reconfigure how it works, etc. My “inner circle” of people can easily surprise me, of course!) This drastically reduces surprises, and so drastically reduces spam.

Then the second challenge is to locate the channels that contain the informationā€”including commercial informationā€”which I want to receive. My favorite clothing retailer has learned that I like to be surprised with email from them. Commercial? …absolutely. Spam? …yes, please.

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Time is slipping →

Published April 8, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 8  ·  

Thank you for giving me a few moments of your time.

Every momentā€”well, minus the 1/3 of my life when I’m horizontal and unconsciousā€”I have the power to exercise my free will to decide what to do with my time. Since you are on the Internet, you likely also have this power and freedom. (Many people do not.)

Which moments do I regret? The ones where my choices were not intentional. Moments where I was habitual. Moments where I was reactive.

 É•

Ownership →

Published April 7, 2019  ·  All posts on Apr 7  ·  ,

Ownership is somewhat of a gray area, both with physical and virtual real estate. I use the term loosely here. Ownership depends on how much control you have over the property, so we have a spectrum of possibilities. For instance, if you want to discover who really owns your home, stop paying your property taxes for a while and see what happens.

~ Steve Pavlina from, Virtual Real Estate

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This pull-quote has little to do with the linked article. It simply made me laugh out loudā€”for real, in the literal sense. If you’ve not owned a house, you cannot aprehend property taxes. I digress.

Just before this article by Steve, I had read a short piece about adulthood and children. A piece about parents who give children too much choice. It contained a thought or three about:

Why would I want to grow up and have to accept all the responsibility, when I already have all the freedom and luxury?

That is one of the Big Questions. The day on which I understood the answer was the 3rd most important day of my life.

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