Dylan Johanson: Gym iterations, community, and self-advice →

Published July 10, 2018  ·  All posts on Jul 10  ·  

Dylan Johanson: Gym iterations, community, and self-advice

What motivates and sustains a practice that evolves personal fulfillment and builds community?

Dylan Johanson is the owner and founder of Innate Movement Parkour in Kingston, New York. A practitioner for many years, Dylan talks about his origin story and the challenges surrounding building and then re-building his gym. Then he shares some thoughts on what advice he would give his younger self.

Sometimes, I still need to remind myself to not accidentally slip onto the treadmill of traditional success.

~ Dylan Johanson (18:00)

The conversation explores Dylan Johansson’s journey into parkour, from discovering the practice to founding Innate Movement in Kingston, New York. Early topics include Dylan’s initial experiences with parkour, how it resonated with his love for movement, and his shift from solitary training to engaging with a larger community. He describes the transformative effect parkour had on his health, outlook, and life choices, emphasizing the physical and mental benefits it provided.

Later discussions focus on the process of building a parkour community, including the challenges of starting and sustaining a gym. Dylan recounts how he transitioned from hobbyist to professional coach, discussing incremental growth strategies, the importance of partnerships, and lessons learned from different gym setups. The conversation also reflects on broader themes, such as defining success on one’s terms and embracing the evolving nature of personal practice.

(more…)

Do the difficult things →

Published July 9, 2018  ·  All posts on Jul 9  ·  

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

~ Lao Tzu

slip:4a234.

Relationships that don’t scale →

Published July 6, 2018  ·  All posts on Jul 6  ·  

These people are, effectively, hiding behind a wall. They are passing up more difficult work for the easy work — sharing or “liking” photos, retweeting, commenting on someone’s wall. These are activities which can serve a purpose, but they are poor substitutes for the real thing. It’s like saying Splenda is the same thing as sugar, tofu is the same thing as real meat, or Red Lobster is a good place for…a red lobster. It’s not the same thing. Not even close.

~ Brett McKay from, How to Build Meaningful Relationships | The Art of Manliness

slip:4uaoai2.

There is a fine line between using social media (and other technology conveniences) to increase the number of people I can keep up with. Dunbar’s Number is often pegged at about 100 or a bit more. I definitely agree that there’s a trade off between how many people I can maintain relationships with and the quality of each relationship. I find the hardest part is when a relationship gets asymetric — when the other person isn’t able to commit as much time — eventually it’s time for me to stop putting in the effort; Eventually it’s time for me to stop trying, and instead to let another person settle into the social space in my universe.

ɕ

One tongue →

Published July 4, 2018  ·  All posts on Jul 4  ·  

Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue – to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.

~ Socrates

slip:4a101.

Real-time chat →

Published July 2, 2018  ·  All posts on Jul 2  ·  

I believe attention is one of your most precious resources. If something else controls my attention, that something else controls what I’m capable of. I also believe your full attention is required to do great work. So when something like a pile of group chats, and the expectations that come along with them, systematically steals that resource from me, I consider it a potential enemy. “Right now” is a resource worth conserving, not wasting.

~ Jason Fried from, «https://m.signalvnoise.com/is-group-chat-making-you-sweat-744659addf7d»

Certainly there are situations where real-time chat is the right tool. But I think real-time chat is the rare case.

ɕ

When it gets hard →

Published June 29, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 29  ·  

The road to success is through commitment, and through the strength to drive through that commitment when it gets hard. And it is gonna get hard and you’re gonna wanna quit sometimes, but it’ll be colored by who you are, and more who you want to be.

~ Will Smith

slip:4a690

Advice on losing weight →

Published June 26, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 26  ·  

Truth be told, if I really wanted to help people lose weight I would increase the price of Eat Stop Eat to 100 dollars per book. Far less people would buy it, but those who did would be invested heavily in making a change in their lives. They wouldn’t just read about fasting and weight training, they’d actually practice it.

~ Brad Pilon from, What Do You Do When A Friend Asks You For Advice On Losing Weight? – Brad Pilon’s ‘Eat Blog Eat’

slip:4ubawe1.

Call it wisdom– Call it Imposter Syndrome— whatever. The more I learn about health, the more I’m convinced I know nothing.

For me, the solution to my unhealth was to change my life. Not, “more exercise,” but “rediscover moving.” Not, “eat better,” but “listen honestly to my body.” Not, “lose weight.” — there’s no, “but…” on that last one; The weight loss just happens the more I change my life.

ɕ

What is health? →

Published June 25, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 25  ·  

But as the saying goes, the darkest hour is just before dawn. At some point during this “dark night of the soul,” I realized that the depression and despair I was feeling was the direct result of comparing my actual experience with an idea of what I thought my experience should be. I saw that I was striving for an ideal of health that was—at least at that point—unattainable, and that this was the cause of most of my suffering.

~ Chris Kresser from, What is Health? | Chris Kresser

slip:4uciwa1.

This idea is right at the heart of my experience of the last few years.

ɕ

Rise to the work of a human being →

Published June 24, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 24  ·  

In the morning, when you rise unwillingly, let this thought be present: I am rising to the work of a human being.

~ Marcus Aurelius

slip:4a188.

Tulip subsidies →

Published June 22, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 22  ·  

But the solution isn’t universal tulip subsidies. Higher education is in a bubble much like the old tulip bubble. In the past forty years, the price of college has dectupled (quadrupled when adjusting for inflation). It used to be easy to pay for college with a summer job; now it is impossible. At the same time, the unemployment rate of people without college degrees is twice that of people who have them. Things are clearly very bad and Senator Sanders is right to be concerned.

~ Scott Alexander from, Against Tulip Subsidies | Slate Star Codex

slip:4usaaa1.

Don’t be distracted by the Sanders reference. This article stands just fine three years later.

It raises what I think is a really good idea: What if employers were NOT allowed to ask about post-primary education degrees? So just as an employer cannot judge you based on your skin color, they could not judge you based on some letters and a school name. INSTEAD, they would have to judge you based on your ability. Suddenly, the only value in those letters and the school name [to the potential student] would be the TRUE VALUE AND QUALITY of the education. At the same time, anyone who can match that quality of skill/knowledge — regardless where they got it — would be equally considered.

Make. This. Happen.

ɕ