Plans get you into things, but you’ve got to work your way out.
~ Will Rogers
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Plans →
Andy Keller | The Strategy of Storytelling →
On Castbox.fm — Andy Keller | The Strategy of Storytelling
What role does storytelling play in enhancing engagement, communication, and growth within the Parkour community?
Building trust and relationships in the Parkour community starts with sharing positive stories.
People don’t do Parkour because they like Parkour, they do Parkour because of the way it makes them feel.
~ Andy Keller (3:26)
The conversation explores the application of storytelling in Parkour coaching, management, and customer relations. Andy Keller explains how storytelling can enhance engagement by appealing to emotions rather than facts, creating stronger connections between team members, and attracting new participants. By presenting Parkour as a tool that individuals can use to pursue their own goals, storytelling empowers participants to feel like the protagonist of their own journey.
Andy highlights the importance of making the participant the hero while the coach or instructor plays the role of a guide. This approach not only helps overcome hesitations but also aligns with the emotional reasons people are drawn to Parkour. By addressing feelings rather than relying solely on data, coaches and leaders can inspire confidence and motivate growth within their communities.
Takeaways
Story as communication — Storytelling serves as a powerful means to convey emotion, connection, and engagement across various forms of communication.
Three areas of focus — Storytelling can enhance coaching, team management, and customer relations by fostering stronger personal connections.
Participant as the hero — Effective storytelling positions the participant as the main character, while Parkour acts as the tool for their personal growth.
Emotional engagement — Stories address emotional barriers and fears, influencing decisions more effectively than facts and statistics.
Trust through storytelling — Sharing positive stories about others builds trust within teams and communities.
Practical application — Coaches and gym owners are encouraged to view their marketing, materials, and language through the eyes of newcomers, ensuring they align with the personal journeys of participants.
Overcoming objections — Relatable stories can address hesitations, such as age or injury concerns, by showcasing others who have faced and overcome similar barriers.
Resources
Parkour Generations Americas — Organization where Andy Keller serves as a senior coach, focusing on workshops and courses globally.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Sleep, part ga-zillion →
Ample and quality sleep is one of the most important, and sadly neglected, elements of a sound mind and body.
~ Jarlo Ilano from, 5 Quality Sleep Strategies to Feel Well-Rested and More Productive
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(Emphasis mine.)
No.
Sleep is the most important part of my life. No exceptions. No equivication. No weasel words.
Sleep. Sleep? SLEEP!
Despite my issue with his characterization of the degree of importance, Ilano’s article is a good overview of some basic sleep ideas.
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Nature’s dominant creature →
A further unpleasant fact of life: biologists have discovered that the more complex a life form is, the quicker it goes extinct. That hapless cream-puff of the animal kingdom, the jellyfish, rather uncomplicated in form and function, has been around for 500 million years and counting. The average kick at the can, for a complex species, lasts four million years, which happens to be about how long we’ve been around.
~ David Cain from, Nature’s Dominant Creature
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This is such a wonderful kick in the complacency.
It’s taken me so much effort just to wrap my brain around the reality of the place of a human life [my life!] in the scale of things. In that effort, one thing I was tempted to fall back on was the crutch that at least a human life is part of the Grand Arc of Human History. Meanwhile, we still appear to be alone in the universe, day by day adding weight to the idea that there’s some sort of hard wall faced by intelligence during its evolution.
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Time to take action? →
The thing is, we still live in a world that’s filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity — we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing.
~ Seth Godin from, Time to take action?
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Someone recently asked me about Movers Mindset. “Why is craig doing this?” and my first thought was, “Isnt this obviously a great thing?” But perhaps he wasn’t asking about the thing but rather about me. I had focused on the, “…doing this” when I perhaps I should have focused on, “…Craig doing.”
It’s simple: Movers Mindset is the community I wish I could join. To find inspiration. To find like-minded persons. To find a high-fidelity space where my ideas can be exposed to the Marketplace of Ideas.
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Entirely too much →
There is entirely too much human judging, too much flippant criticism of the acts of others. Suspicion is permitted to displace evidence, cheap shrewdness to banish charity, prejudice to masquerade as judgment. We imagine, we guess, we speculate—then pass on through the medium of indiscreet speech and idle gossip what may bring bitterness, sorrow, heartache, and injustice to others. The very ones we condemn may be battling nobly under a hail of trial and temptation where we might fall faint in the trenches or, lowering our colors, drop back in hopeless surrender.
~ William George Jordan, from Manvotional
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Written ~1909, this is 100 years old and still pitch-perfect today. The more things change the more they stay the same.
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A man of thought →
Think like a man of action. Act like a man of thought.
~ Henri Bergson
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The apocalypse is already here →
We’re made increasingly miserable because connect-the-world imperialists are unleashing machine learning on our most vulnerable and base impulses. A constant loop of refinement that prods our psyche for weak spots, and then exploits them with maximal efficiency. All in the service of selling ads for cars, shampoo, or political discord.
~ David Hansson from, «https://m.signalvnoise.com/the-ai-apocalypse-is-already-here-3bd3267cc151»
Sometimes it’s nice to stop worrying about the existential threat of the rise of the machines…
…and to instead worry about the existential threat of people doing stupid things.
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Goal visualization →
When people in the workplace confront shift, rift, zooming, and all of the other challenges that make up business life, there is one thread that runs through all of the choices that they make: Either they’re torchbearers, or they’re not.
~ Seth Godin from, And from the Russian judge…
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Something I talk often about is goal visualization. I’m a firm believer in the idea that “close” and “almost” do not pass muster. When I’m working, and when I’m helping others work, I visualize the goal: We need a door in this wall. It has to be this high, and wide enough for furniture to pass through. And the more specific the goal, the better. The door itself need not be insulated, but it should match the decor of the rooms on either side. It needs an easy to use, single-handle latch/door knob combination. When work begins, I then use the goal as a decision razor: For every choice—every choice, no exceptions—does this option or solution move me towards the goal? Is this a detour that moves me farther from the goal, but then makes it much easier later. [Otherwise known as front-loading work.] Along the way I visualize the state of the world at each step; We’ll knock a hole in the wall on Tuesday—wait, we have a dinner party on Friday… can we be done by Friday?
I’m not only imagining the goal. I’m imagining every single step along the way. What can go wrong? What can go better-than-expected, and what if anything should we do with that gain? And why did we choose this path? …maybe we should re-assess that decision and go this other way, now that we have this new intel having come this far? How important is this goal? …is this a goal to reach at all costs? …can we move the goal now that we have new knowledge? Can we shift some of the work into a next segment of work, shifting our current goal onto an intermediate point along the way to the ultimate goal.
Torch bearer.
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Jacob Carlson | Guiding Motivation & Confidence →
On Castbox.fm — Jacob Carlson | Guiding Motivation & Confidence
What are the essential principles of motivation and confidence that can be purposefully applied in coaching to develop individuals holistically?
Exploring the psychological foundations of motivation and confidence in coaching.
As we start to give people, you know, 1000s of successful experiences, when they’re faced with that one challenge, they can look back on all the successes they had—instant boost in confidence.
~ Jacob Carlson (5:04)
The conversation focuses on the principles and application of motivation and confidence in coaching, primarily through self-determination theory and self-efficacy theory. The discussion outlines how these theories can intentionally inspire personal growth in students beyond accidental outcomes. Jacob emphasizes the importance of guiding individuals rather than imposing rigid teaching methods to help them develop their capabilities holistically.
Additionally, Jacob shares insights into how past successes can be stored as a “bank” to boost confidence during challenges. By applying these concepts, the goal is to cultivate not only skilled athletes but also resilient, well-rounded individuals. The conversation also highlights the deeper purpose of coaching: developing personal character and attributes that extend beyond the immediate context of sports or activities.
Takeaways
Teaching as guidance — Effective coaching requires guiding individuals rather than imposing a fixed methodology.
Self-determination theory — Motivation is deeply connected to autonomy, competence, and relatedness, all of which can be nurtured intentionally.
Self-efficacy theory — Confidence grows when individuals can reflect on a history of successful experiences.
Holistic development — The ultimate goal is to create capable, confident people, not just skilled athletes.
Framework for application — Theories can be practically integrated into coaching to intentionally inspire growth in motivation and confidence.
Long-term impact — Focusing on character and mental resilience provides benefits far beyond the context of physical training.
Resources
Self-Determination Theory — A framework for understanding human motivation based on autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
University of Utah — The institution where the speaker is preparing for physical therapy school.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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