“Setting the bar too high.” “Setting stretch goals with the knowledge that coming up short will be the norm.”
…are symptoms of forward-looking assessment of progress. Assessing progress by looking forward is a grievous error. “What have I accomplished?” is only measurable by looking back at what has been accomplished. This error is one of my big problems—I’d even say it’s my #2 problem. I’m working on it by practicing looking back to assess progress. :) My instinct and habit though is to look forward. Thus, more practice is needed to make looking back the default.
What have I accomplished? What is the affect of what I have done? How far have I moved? How much have I learned?
Such questions can only be answered by considering the change between two points in my past.
The hard part—at least for me—is to keep out the “I wanted.” “I accomplished that much, but I wanted to accomplish [insert goal here],” creeps in through the open door of assessment.
By shifting my eyes just a bit to my left, I can see my personal oath which is stuck next to my monitor. There are a few phrases in it which are specifically meant to help me keep, “but I wanted to…” firmly locked outside.
Zoom H4N recorder, a pair of SM58s (didn’t even have pop filter foam covers) with table-top mic stands. I went to the trouble of finding a power cord that matched the Zoom’s bayonette jack (on the chin at the left, between the XLR cables) and had a standard USB plug on the other. This of course only worked because the Zoom would accept 5v DC. One pair of Vogek folding headphones for me. Stand USB battery brick. I kept this all packed into a Pelican case much smaller than a shoebox.
When you want to visit a web site, you do not need to search for it in a central directory of web sites. Your web browser simply goes into the DNS system and finds the address to connect to.
Today, podcasts are managed inside a huge directory. But they do not need to be in a directory!
Meet the Open Podcast Directory
If you want to find the podcast for example.com why doesn’t your podcast player simply go find that podcast by looking it up in DNS?
All that needs to happen is for people to put information into DNS—a record that says, “the podcast RSS feed is at this URL”—and then podcast players can simply make a DNS query.
create a DNS record for host “_opd” in your domain
record type TXT
record data is the URL of a podcast feed
multiple TXT records are permitted, to enable auto-discovery of multiple podcasts within a given domain
In this way, each podcast’s content creator uses the existing, global DNS system to publish the location of the podcast’s feed URL.
Moving your podcast
Want to change where your podcast is hosted? Simply update your DNS.
Why?
Content creators are currently dependent on directories. Apple’s iTunes directory is the de facto standard. We are already seeing a splintering of the podcast space…
What are the inherent challenges of growing and monetizing a Parkour community without losing its core values and spirit?
35 episodes and 2 years later, Adam McClellan returns to Movers Mindset. Adam deserves a large measure of credit because he was willing to be the original guinea pig for this crazy experiment. Our first interview was a simple Q&A style but in this episode we have an in depth conversation about the cycles a community goes through, the nature of parkour, and the type of people who are drawn to it. Adam explores the intersection of parkour and business, and how the two coexist, before discussing the nuances of coaching children. He opens up about his knee injury and recovery, his thoughts on normalizing parkour to the public, and different ways to design a parkour gym.
One of the things we value about Parkour is there isn’t that hierarchy and structure in place. It’s just you and me, and we’re hanging out, you don’t have to call me anything— There’s no assumed authority, right? We’re just training together.
~ Adam McClellan (21:40)
This conversation explores the growth and evolution of a Parkour community as it transitions from informal outdoor training to a structured business model. The discussion highlights the shifts in community dynamics when money and formal structures are introduced, drawing parallels between martial arts schools and Parkour. Adam reflects on how scaling up often leads to a loss of intimacy and core values, raising questions about whether Parkour can retain its spirit as it grows.
Key topics include the role of leadership in shaping community culture, the unavoidable influence of business practices on Parkour, and the challenge of teaching children while preserving the deeper philosophical aspects of the discipline. There is also a focus on personal injuries, their impact on training, and how physical setbacks shape the journey of a Parkour practitioner.
Takeaways
The growth of Parkour communities — Scaling introduces structure and money, often challenging the core values that initially attract practitioners.
Leadership’s role in community — The personality and values of leaders heavily influence the community’s trajectory and inclusivity.
Business and Parkour — Structuring Parkour as a business introduces operational necessities that can shift focus from movement and personal growth to profit and efficiency.
Teaching children Parkour — Teaching children emphasizes physical skills over the deeper self-exploration aspect inherent to Parkour for adults.
Injury and recovery — Personal injury experiences reshape one’s relationship with movement and coaching, often influencing how practitioners train and teach.
Cultural perceptions of Parkour — Public perception, especially from institutions like police or schools, shapes the accessibility and acceptance of Parkour in local communities.
Community dynamics — Communities inevitably evolve based on the personalities and shared experiences of the core members.
Parkour as self-exploration — The practice naturally fosters personal growth and reflection, often leading practitioners to deeper self-awareness.
This post is from some quick notes I made in August 2018. I’m only just getting around to publishing it now, 8 months later, as part of this series. Today, at ~230 pounds, 215 seems like a dream.
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I’m recently back from traveling to Denmark and France to attend two Parkour events back-to-back. As usual when I’m traveling, I don’t attempt to keep up my normal routines so there’s no data recorded for most of July 2018.
I’m happy to return still around 215 as I try to get back to my routine of “chaining together” my mornings. Compared to July, I’m not as active, but I’m trying to AVOID the, “let’s be super active and try the 100-days-of-activity challenge,” mistake I made in 2017 when I came home from the same events all excited about movement.
Anyway, what about that ratio of 1958? …it’s so low that it’s not even on the graph! This reminds me of two things I believe I’ve noticed:
The ratio lags behind when I’m actively losing weight. My guess is that the different components (water, subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, and muscle) change at different rates. So when losing fat from calorie deficit, the peripheral/subcutaneous is liberated first—which aligns with my recollection that visceral fat is more tenacious.
The best ratio is very hard to find—to actually see it in the measurements. I have to lose weight gradually, and then stay at the new weight for many weeks to see the ratio rebound to above 2000. (Reminder, the ratio is in wacky units of “tenths of pounds per millimeter midriff circumference” because of how I record the numbers. The numerical value of the ratio is of no concern; It’s only useful for trending.)
Weak as I am, I carry on the war to the last moment, I get a hundred pike thrusts, I return two hundred and I laugh. I see near my door Geneva on fire with quarrels over nothing, and I laugh again; And, thank god, I can look upon the world as a farce even when it becomes as tragic as it sometimes does. All comes out even at the end of the day, and all comes out still more even when all the days are over.
I experimented by letting go of goals for a while and just going with the flow, but that produced even worse results. I know some people are fans of that style, but it hasn’t worked well for me. I make much better progress — and I’m generally happier and more fulfilled — when I wield greater conscious control over the direction of my life.
“Letting go” of my structures and goals is good for short-term health. I do this when I’m traveling, or when something unusual happens, (such as having a house guest for a weekend.) Letting go enables me to see if my default habits have changed, as I’m often working on some goal or project that involves habit change. Letting go creates space for serendipity.
But letting go does not get things done. My mind is meant to have ideas, not to hold them. Systems (a grocery list, a todo list, plans for projects, and so on) are how my mind creates the changes I want to see in the world.
Letting go certainly recharges me. It’s the restorative yin to my personality’s default yan.
This article got out of hand, and is 3,000 words. I encourage you to skip around; There’s more discussion of specific tools and how-to material in the last third.
In the beginning
In the beginning, podcasts were simply audio files which people shared directly either by emailing them to each other, or by providing download links on their web sites.
RSS technology has been around for a while and provided a way for a web site to publish a “here’s what’s new” feed. It was soon realized that RSS could be used to provide a feed specifically of podcasts. Software able to retrieve and understand a podcast feed, could then automatically download the podcast files, and alert you of new episodes. Sharing a new show with friends then meant simply giving them the “feed URL” which one would “subscribe to” by adding it to your feed reader.
