noun : an accumulation of loose stones or rocky debris lying on a slope or at the base of a hill or cliff.
But, for me, one of your qualities stands out that is not often cited in the legacies of the famous: decency.
~ Steve Martin from, Carl Reiner, Perfect – The New York Times
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Hear! Hear!
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P.S.: Carl Reiner, Multifaceted Master of Comedy, Is Dead at 98 – The New York Times
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25 days ago I started a wee challenge: Trying to train every day for 100 days straight. I’d done this challenge in 2017 to mixed results. Physically it was mixed; training every day is too much and I ended up defining some recovery days as “training.” Mentally it was also mixed; I wasn’t trying to build a new habit, so the “daily” part didn’t work towards that, and it became a serious drag forcing myself to train every day.
When I finished the 2017 challenge I knew it sucked and definitely didn’t want to make that a thing I did often, nor even yearly. When 2020 rolled around—my physical activity was exactly as usual, with me outside doing various things just as much as 2019—but I started thinking about doing some more rock climbing (outdoors, on real mountains.) That prompted me to think about getting into better shape. For me, that’s primarily removing fat. For the first couple months I concentrated on diet, which means focusing on when and how much I’m eating.
After I peeled off 10 pounds of blubber, that’s when I had the idea to take on a fresh 100-days-of-training challenge. It was exactly what I remembered it was like: It sucks. In years past I would have just embraced the suck and pushed through the thing. Note that I would have constantly considered myself to be failing. Entirely missing a day here and there, realizing I need a rest day and defining recovery as training, and just generally nagging myself with, “I should go train.” Instead I simply punted on the whole thing and deleted it entirely.
…aaah, yes, the power of “no” when you have a bigger “why” burning inside you.
When’s the last time you punted on something?
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All outcomes are manifestations of forces that are at work to produce them, so whenever looking at specific outcomes, think about the forces that are behind them. Constantly ask yourself, “What is this symptomatic of?”
~ Ray Dalio from, 17 Management Lessons from Ray Dalio
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This is pretty much the zero-th rule of being a rational agent. (But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bear repeating.) The post from Parrish is simply a long list of quotes from Dalio. It’s a great list, and it’s assembled in the context of leadership skills. This one, (quoted above,) in particular speaks to me; speaks to me like a drill sergeant. “What is your dysfunction?!” Anyway.
Once I started practicing being rational—yes, emotions are real, they are important, they get their due… But once I started intentionally practicing using rationality as a tool I made huge strides in self-improvement.
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On Castbox.fm — Adam McClellan, Caitlin Pontrella, & Alan Tran | Art of Retreat 2019 Recap
How can events like retreats foster personal growth, collaboration, and community-building in specialized fields?
Discover how open schedules and shared creative spaces redefine the meaning of collaboration and innovation at events.
Something new that we did this year was open schedule […] an open forum where anyone could add a session or workshop or something informal, to the schedule during our blocks of open time, which was really well received.
~ Caitlin Pontrella (0:54)
This discussion revolves around the role of retreats in fostering personal growth, community-building, and collaboration. Adam, Caitlin and Alan describe the unique atmosphere of the retreat, emphasizing the importance of an open schedule that allows participants to contribute sessions spontaneously. This format lowers barriers to participation, inspiring individuals to step into leadership roles and share their expertise. Additionally, the conversation highlights the retreat’s design, which fosters vulnerability, connection, and a sense of belonging through shared meals, cozy settings, and creative activities.
The group also explores the challenges and opportunities of organizing international retreats. Topics include reducing economic barriers for attendees, creating cross-cultural connections, and leveraging sponsorships to enhance inclusivity. They stress the significance of helping participants take the retreat’s transformative energy back to their local communities, translating it into actionable insights and long-lasting impact. A key theme is the interplay between deliberate planning and organic participant-driven creation, which collectively define the retreat’s unique success.
Takeaways
Creating space for spontaneous sessions — This fosters inclusivity and encourages new voices to emerge as potential future leaders.
The role of environment — A retreat’s physical setting significantly contributes to its emotional and social impact, enhancing connection and memory.
Barriers to accessibility — Efforts to reduce economic, geographic, and social barriers ensure more diverse participation.
The power of shared meals — Communal meals are designed to build intimacy and create a warm, homelike atmosphere.
Cultural exchange in international retreats — Cross-cultural understanding and shared learnings enhance the global community’s impact.
Emphasis on personal agency — Participants are encouraged to take ownership of their experience, tailoring it to their needs.
Connection beyond the retreat — A focus on enabling participants to take back ideas, skills, and inspiration to their communities.
The hero’s journey framework — The retreat experience is framed as a journey of personal growth and transformation.
Resources
Art of Retreat — Official website for the retreat, offering event details and registration.
Parkour Visions — A partner organization supporting the retreat.
Parkour Generations Americas — A key partner in organizing and supporting the event.
Zen Planner — A sponsor providing resources for event management.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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She didn’t recognize there was a bench in her life — and because she didn’t recognize the bench, she didn’t focus on the game playing out around her. In baseball there’s a location shift, from a player being on the field to a player being on the bench in the dugout.
~ Callie Oettinger from, What It Takes: How to Pitch: Get in the Game
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I don’t personally think of my life as if I’m sitting on “the bench” waiting to be tapped to go out and play in the game—but it’s a good enough metaphor, so I’m running with it today.
The question is simply: What do you do while you are sitting on the bench?
There are many other ways this has been phrased…
What are you doing, each day, to build an asset that will be useful to you later?
Or if you are in a creative arena…
What’s on your web site that shows me the work you’ve done?
What’s in your portfolio?
Who can’t stop talking about you?
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P.S.: This question is part of my personal list of daily reminders.
…what I see is not chaos but home. A prose style that interrupts itself, that can’t seem to make up its mind, promises me the thing that I open a book looking for: a friend. That friend might be insufferable (Hello, Mickey Sabbath!) or maniacally self-involved (Bonjour, Marcel!), but what she won’t be, her parentheses assure me, is distant, withholding.
~ Ben Dolnick from, Opinion | (Let Us Out of This Clause) – The New York Times
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Say what you will about the Times—no really, go ahead, I’ll wait—but I am frequently glad that I keep the old Grey Lady in my RSS reader. skip skip skip skip yawn skip and then oh-hello! This piece is fun, and his perceptions about parentheticals and asides is something along with which I nod. (I shall torture my mother-tongue as I see fit.) Meanwhile, if I can get you to say, “not boring”—my goal isn’t so low, but while aiming for the stars I’ll settle for it—if ever asked to assess my blog. (Yeup, that sentence is broken just to make you read it multiple times.) A few days ago I was talking about texting. Today’s ramble through the brambles—is that a movie title? …it should be—feels like a postscript to my bit about how texting, (in it’s various forms,) slots in as sub conversation but supra full-on prose. Because I feel that my writing is as close as I can get to having a conversation… if you were a blind mute whom I couldn’t see.
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If I stick with it, however, my mind eventually downshifts — quieting the noisy neuronal clamoring for easy entertainment, and leaving instead an unencumbered attention of a type that I often seek in my work.
~ Cal Newport from, Deep Habits: Listen to Baseball on the Radio – Cal Newport
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Once or thrice I’ve heard a baseball game on the radio. This would have been back in the 80’s when with some neighborhood friends—brothers, whose father was a plumber—we’d occasionally ride to a baseball game. The kind of game where we were playing as kids; semi-organized little league games at random churches’ baseball fields scattered around the Pennsylvania rolling hills. A homerun into left-field was in the graveyard and into right-field was in the corn field. I can’t convey in writing what it sounded like riding in the truck with the radio on; some combination of a monotonous announcer with a touch of crowd noise, a big ‘ol truck engine—this was the plumbing truck full of plumbing supplies in the back—a 5-speed manual floor shift and 3 rowdy kids with the windows rolled down and the smell of fields and manure and baseball gloves.
I think I had something else to say about baseball and focus when I started typing. But I forget what it was.
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Let’s grab a kayak to Quincy or Nyack
~ Lyrics by Tom Adair
Let’s get away from it all
The secret to life, of course, is to first get away from it all, then grab that kayak. Because wherever I go, there I find myself. The things that one wants to “get away from” are all things over which you exclusively have control. That stack of papers that should be filed… This mountain of debt… That broken air conditioning… Even really hard things like mortgages, needy pets, frenemies, toxic family members… you are in control of how you act and how you assess those things.
Have you truly and honestly examined the things in your life which are weighing on your mind?
You have? Great! That’s the easy part.
The hard part? Let go. Toss things out of your life. Realize the hearse has no luggage rack. 15,000 years from now nothing you did or worried about will matter at all. You have exactly this one lifetime. Apprehend why each thing is in your life and appreciate it, right now. Build things up. Help people. Create. …we humans are creatures meant for social interaction, of course. But no regrets. No could’a should’a would’a.
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On Castbox.fm — Niko Pal | Intention-based Coaching
How do the roles of teacher, coach, instructor, and leader differ, and how can understanding these distinctions enhance one’s effectiveness as an educator?
Understanding how intention, communication, perception, and interaction influence education can transform how we engage with students.
Besides just looking at the titles of teacher, coach, leader, instructor— we also started to define some really important words like intention, communication, interaction, and perception. Those were the four words that I really felt like I wanted to highlight this time.
~ Niko Pal (8:08)
The conversation explores the nuanced distinctions between different roles in education, particularly teacher, coach, instructor, and leader. A significant portion highlights how these roles overlap and how educators often embody multiple identities depending on the context. The discussion emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and reflection when choosing how to engage with students.
Another key focus is on the core concepts of intention, communication, interaction, and perception. These elements shape how educators approach their work and influence their effectiveness. The conversation also touches on how the unique environment of the retreat fosters open dialogue, mutual learning, and the sharing of perspectives that challenge assumptions and lead to personal growth.
Takeaways
Intention — Having clear, purposeful goals drives the effectiveness of educators in guiding their students.
Communication — Open, honest exchanges between educators and students are vital for growth and alignment.
Interaction — Body language, tone, and presence play a significant role in shaping how messages are received and interpreted.
Perception — Understanding how others see you and how you see them is essential for effective coaching and leadership.
Role Definitions — Differentiating between teacher, coach, instructor, and leader helps clarify educational approaches and goals.
Student-Centered Approach — Effective educators prioritize the needs and interests of their students rather than projecting their desires.
Retreat Value — Participating in collaborative environments like the retreat enhances professional and personal development.
Resources
Forge Parkour — Gym in Portland, Oregon where Nikko Pal coaches.
Art of Retreat — Annual Parkour leadership and education retreat.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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The hard part is deciding what to share.
At no point am I at a loss for something to write. Instead, I’m at a loss to decide what is worth sharing. This is true for this web site, conversations I have with podcast guests, and my personal journal. The way I sort out whether something is worth sharing is to think about who is it for. I read my personal journals in an ongoing way—each morning, (give or take,) I read that day’s entry from various numbers of years ago. So in my journaling I know that capturing my struggles and frustrations will serve me well; 9 years later, I read those entries and am relieved to see how that story turned out.
Other things—this web site, the podcast conversations—are not meant primarily for me. And so with pieces like this I try to have a point. Today it’s: Language, writing, conversation, reading, etc. are tools. As with any tool, it’s the intention of the user which matters most. You can break things or build things up using any tool you care to consider.
But first you have to ask yourself are you using your tools intentionally?
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This is a standardized way to present a preview of a URL. Instead of just showing a URL, like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower
It can be presented as a “onebox,” like this:
That’s just a screenshot from a system which is able to do oneboxing. The magic is that when editing, (wherever you are editing,) you simply paste in a raw URL and the oneboxing is done automatically by the system.
It’s based on the Open Graph Protocol (OG). Facebook started this as a way to get sites on the open web to provide software-understandable, summary information. It took off everywhere because it’s just downright awesome.
A web site includes information stuffed out of sight, in the source HTML of the page. Software can fetch the URL, notice the OG information and craft a meaningful summary. This grew into the idea of presenting a single box summary—”one boxing”—of a URL if it has OG information.
When something doesn’t onebox as you expect, how would you figure out which end has the problem? (Was it the end serving the URL content that doesn’t have OG data? Or is the end fetching the URL that couldn’t parse the OG data?) So someone wrote a handy tool that lets you see what (if any) OG data there is at any URL you want to type in:
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Happiness isn’t something that is deserved or earned from something outside yourself. Happiness is created within yourself. And it’s created by the simple and constant choice to accept what is. To look at the pain in the face and not blink. To confront one’s fears and struggles and embrace them rather than fight them.
~ Mark Manson from, 5 Simple Ideas That Can Change Your Life
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Manson has written a number of articles that feel like the fist from the adage: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” (~ Mike Tyson)
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So, don’t feel bad about procrastinating when you need to write—humanity put the whole thing off for a couple hundred thousand years! By a conservative estimate, we’ve had writing for about 4% of the time we’ve been human. Chatting is easy; writing is an arduous chore.
~ Erika Hall from, Conversational Design – A List Apart
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The more time I spend texting—in all its various forms—the more I’m growing to understand the allure of the mode of communication. I’m a digital immigrant, born far enough before cellular, wifi and the Internet in general… or at least the publicly accessible one. Anyway. As an immigrant, I’ve always found the written form—email, forum, message boards, etc.—the easy form of communication, and the ephemeral “texting” the more challenging. Like anything else I suppose, the more you use it, the more you become accustomed to it. I’d say I’m a solid C+ at texting these days. The digital natives can spot me in 10 seconds. But I’ve learned to appreciate the medium.
After reading this piece from Hall, I’m shifting my opinion: I used to think it was, in descending utility, spoken word, written word, and then texting. But now I’m thinking texting slots in as better than the static written word precisely because it’s a form of two-way communication. When I write… *ahem* I get to spend all the time I want, preparing this salvo of characters to be launched at you. *tap* *tap* Hello? Is this on? …yes? Okay, now I can broadcast at you on and on and on and on and on until your eyes glass over and you stop reading. On the other hand, texting requires me to interact with you, not quite in real time, but it’s an interactive conversation.
Hey there! havent talked in ages!!! :D Wats up??
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Saying that taste is just personal preference is a good way to prevent disputes. The trouble is, it’s not true. You feel this when you start to design things.
~ Paul Graham from, Taste for Makers
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I’m not certain about “good” taste. I’m not convinced that there’s an objectively good measure of, well, good taste. I think too much of what some would say is “good,” is actually rooted in the current culture.
But I feel comfortable saying that there is such a thing as bad taste. There are clear reasons, for which one can present a clear case, why things are gauche. There’re clear situations and choices that are in bad taste. Mind you, I can readily imagine art which is intentionally in bad taste; that’s a good thing because art’s purpose is (sometimes) to push the envelope or to change society and culture. But in general, bad taste exists.
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On Castbox.fm — Justin Taylor | How to Find, Hire, Train, Retain, and Fire Coaches and Staff
How can a growing gym effectively hire, train, retain, and manage staff to sustain long-term success and positive culture?
Developing a team culture strong enough to survive rapid growth requires meticulous planning and personal leadership.
[L]ead by example. Right? So that’s number one. I cannot ask somebody on my staff to do something that I’m not willing to do.
~ Justin Taylor (8:18)
The conversation covers the journey of expanding a gym business from a small operation into multiple locations with large staff. Topics include managing rapid growth, hiring processes, and establishing standard operating procedures to ensure consistency.
Cultural development is emphasized as key to long-term staff retention and gym atmosphere. The importance of leading by example and fostering a sense of community within the staff is highlighted. Personal experiences with hiring missteps and lessons from managing team dynamics illustrate the complexities of gym leadership.
Takeaways
Hiring process — A structured hiring process with standardized steps is essential to avoid legal issues and ensure consistent results.
Staff retention — Retaining staff requires creating a positive culture and treating employees as part of a community or family.
Cultural leadership — Leaders must lead by example, modeling the behavior they expect from their staff.
Scaling challenges — Rapid expansion introduces difficulties in maintaining organizational culture, requiring careful management and strategic onboarding.
Training systems — Developing standard operating procedures helps ensure new staff are trained consistently and effectively.
Personal responsibility — Business owners are ultimately responsible for the livelihood and well-being of their staff, reinforcing the need for careful leadership decisions.
Resources
Parkour Professor — A resource created by Justin Taylor offering mentorship and resources for gym owners.
Firestorm Freerunning — Justin Taylor’s gym brand encompassing multiple locations.
Movement United Gym — A gym in Michigan partnered with Justin Taylor for mentorship and operational support.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Draw Antonio, draw Antonio, draw and don’t waste time.
~ Michelangelo
Yes, I do spend a lot of time chasing white rabbits down rabbit holes.
I cannot tell if that’s because diversity of experience and exploration is central to what it means to flourish as a human being, or if I’m simply the type of person for which that is true. Which case it is doesn’t really matter since I can only deeply relate to my personal experience of being. (Recall, I’m not trying to accomplish ‘change the world’ with this blog; Rather, I’m working on self-reflection here.)
Today, an example of a rabbit hole: I have a way of reading entire web sites, one page at a time—software that keeps track of an entire web site and feeds me “the next thing” to read each day. (Aside: If you want to pay to make this a commercial product, let me know.) Today a post from some author (I’m ommiting names) came up that referenced another author’s book which quotes Michelangelo… and it only took me a few minutes to dig around the internet to figure out the quote is correct (albeit translated from Italian) and the original source is in the British Museum. Note to self: See if I can find it next time I’m there. Along the way I found a few interesting things which I shared with some friends. Along the way I learned several new things.
Along the way.
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As I elaborated in last week’s episode of my podcast, Neil Postman argues that it was the introduction of mass-produced longform writing that really unleashed human potential — ushering in the modes of critical, analytical understanding that birthed both the enlightenment and the scientific revolution, the foundations of modernity. It allowed us to efficiently capture complex thought in all its nuance, then build on it, layer after layer, nudging forward human intellectual endeavor.
~ Cal Newport from, On the Exceptionalism of Books in an Age of Tweets – Cal Newport
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I’ve often ranted against lack of attention-span, and wasted time. But Newport, and in particular some things he’s quoting and talking about from another article, make the point that all of human history is encoded in written form. Why is that so? Because it works, and it works really well.
There is a place for visual and auditory information, of course. Those tools of communication are power tools compared to writing—well, almost all writing. As I’ve said many times here though: One can have the power tools after demonstrating mastery with the manual hand-tools.
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These distractions aren’t just unproductive, they’re anti-productive. They create more work than they replace.
~ Mark Manson from, The Attention Diet
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I wish I had learned much sooner the idea that distractions aren’t just wasting the time spent on the distraction, but are in fact decreasing the value of the time I do try to spend on anything focused and productive. Alas, it took me decades of experimenting to deeply understand it for myself before I could truly learn the lesson. Manson’s article is, as usual, irreverent and explicit—but it has some terrific points in it about how to go about crafting an attention “diet” to take back your mind.
My mind does need a lot of down-time and relaxation. But none of that looks like distraction. I deeply love sitting down to some great science-fiction movie with popcorn. I also deeply love me some burly physical work where my mind can press the “body: do things” button and then wander out of the control room for a snooze on the terrace. (I imagine Homer Simpson’s sipping-bird left in the control room; but mine’s pressing the, “continue hard labor,” button rather than his nuclear reactor alarm reset.)
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Within the team that creates the Movers Mindset podcast, we assign numbers to our projects. We use “R42” for our 42nd recording project, then R43, and so on. This enables us to start naming things from day one, in a way that we don’t have to change later. If you’re putting your files in a folder, what would you name it, that you could be sure wouldn’t change?
We also use our podcast’s initials on file names, “MM.” When we see files whose name contains, MM-R42… we know what it belongs too. It’s part of the Recording-42 project for Movers Mindset.
We also exclusively use people’s family names on files. So a raw WAV file from an interview is 20200423-MM-SMITH-TR1.wav … April 23, 2020 recording for Movers Mindset, of someone named “Smith”, and this is track one [a recording from one microphone.] 20200423-MM-SMITH-TR2.wav is track two, and so on. No matter where you toss that file, it’s going to make sense.
Eventually, a recording project might lead to one (or more!) episodes of our podcast. They get assigned episode numbers, EP56, EP57, etc. Then we have filenames like MM-EP57… and it’s always clear what that is.
Sometimes we have a dozen files to keep track of in a podcast episode and we end up with20200423-MM-SMITH-TR1.wav20200423-MM-SMITH-TR2.wavMM-EP56-INTRO.wav (introduction recorded after interview)MM-EP56-OUTRO.wav (outro recorded in post production)MM-GCORD.wav (a little music ‘button’ used when joining bits of interview)
…the final episode is then MM-EP56-SMITH.mp3
Since I’ve typed this much, here’s another thing we do: We use consistently numbered folders to store the files. Every project has a folder, 2020.04.23 Bob Smith R42/EP56 — we create 2020.04.23 Bob Smith R42 in our archives when we do the raw recording, and at the very end we add the /EP56 to make it easier to find things. In side each project we create five folders 1 assets, 2 recording, 3 episode, 4 publication, and 5 social — the leading number ensure they sort in nice order in various displays. 1 contains anything the guest gives us (photos, writing) or any photos we take during recording. 2 is the raw original recordings, 3 is everything to make a podcast episode (intro, outro, whatever we have to assemble, AND the finished MP3), 4 is anything we create as part of publishing the episode (transcript, articles, highlights ) and 5 is anything that’s ok for social media and sharing. And then we have a multi-terabyte file server with a “few” files on it:
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Ever since I first read these words, they stuck with me as useful for understanding the working world in particular. The whole edifice that we now call “productivity advice” distills, I realized, to instructions for cajoling the elephant. If you’re not firm, it’ll do what it wants to do.
~ Cal Newport from, Deep Habits: Never Plan to “Get Some Work Done” – Cal Newport
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Plan? Do? Chaos? I get so swept up in systems that sometimes I just bridle and rebel. I think the problem comes up when I have too many systems that don’t have an end goal. My systems are supposed to make the space for me to get real things done. But if all I have is ongoing systems of the busy-work that’s supposed to make space, then I rebel. Because I also need real projects. I want to spend as much of my time as possible getting real things done. Real things for which I have real reasons for wanting to do them. And those real things require real planning.
Generally, I don’t have a problem with over-planning; I can do a tremendous amount of planning, but experience shows that I always do better if I resist the urge to begin… start now! Take action! It’s always better if I resist action, instead doing a brain-dump session and then setting the whole thing aside. When I return later, more ideas flow and more planning ensues. Maybe a third session. Maybe even a fourth.
Meanwhile, the elephant dozes as I plan surreptitiously.
Ever notice that the “doze” in bulldozer is the exact opposite of the elephant’s? Eventually, the planning reveals a beautiful domino setup, and it’s time to awaken the elephant who easily bulldozes them one by one.
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