Over time, if you work on developing the power of your word, it will become something you don’t question. And then your word will be like a powerful magic spell you can cast anytime you need to make magic happen.
~ Leo Babauta, from Honoring Your Word to Yourself
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This reminds me of Stephen Covey’s comments about putting first things first.
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But I am still optimist enough to credit life with invincibility, I am still ready to bet that the non-human otherness at the root of man’s being will ultimately triumph over the all too human selves who frame the ideologies and engineer the collective suicides. For our survival, if we do survive, we shall be less beholden to our common sense […] that to our caterpillar- and cicadea-sense, to intelligence, in other words, as it operates on the organic level.
~ Aldous Huxley
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How does expertise in book editing influence podcast production and storytelling?
Podcasting challenges traditional storytelling approaches from book editing.
It’s hard finding that story, and everybody of course talks about it— all the [professionals], you know, in their newsletters and books— and I’m like where is it? Where is it?! Help me out. I know it’s here somewhere.
~ Christi Cassidy (6:30)
The conversation centers on the relationship between book editing and podcast production. It explores how skills in editing text, such as identifying verbal tics and structuring content, translate to editing podcasts. A notable challenge is finding a coherent story arc within the fluid and nonlinear format of audio conversations.
Further discussion touches on the creative aspirations for podcasting, including integrating layered audio elements such as music and sound effects to enrich the listener’s experience. The practicalities of podcast artwork and the psychological impact of visual elements in audio media are also examined.
Takeaways
Editing techniques from books — help identify and remove verbal tics in podcasts.
Finding story arcs in podcasts — remains a challenge despite parallels with book editing.
Creative ambitions in podcasting — include layering sound and voices for richer audio.
Visual elements in podcasts — serve as a crucial bridge between social media and audio platforms.
Hardwired human tendencies — show strong attraction to visuals, like faces and album art.
Practicalities of production — involve balancing creative desires with technical realities.
Resources
Moving Along podcast — Hosted by Christi Cassidy, available on major platforms like Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Descript — A software tool for podcast editing, utilized for transcript-based workflows.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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What role does problem-solving and creativity play in the intersection of programming, parkour, and personal growth?
The discussion reveals how creativity and self-discipline shape one’s approach to challenges in life and movement.
Sometimes the right thing to do is to walk away from the problem or to recognize that it’s not the right time or you’re not in the right place for it.
~ James Adams (14:39)
The conversation explores the intersection of programming, parkour, and personal growth, highlighting the common thread of problem-solving. A discussion unfolds about how programming serves as a versatile tool, akin to a multipurpose screwdriver, allowing for efficiency and creativity in tackling challenges. This framework extends to parkour, where physical and mental obstacles mirror problem-solving in technical domains.
The social dynamics of parkour play a significant role in fostering confidence and personal development. The practice’s non-competitive, collaborative nature offers opportunities for self-improvement and resilience. Topics of balance and burnout emerge, with reflections on the importance of stepping back when challenges become overwhelming. Additionally, James shares insights into his Parkour Clinic project, which provides free sports therapy consultations, blending his technical expertise and passion for movement.
Takeaways
Programming as a tool — Provides efficiency and a creative outlet for problem-solving.
Social aspects of parkour — Enhances confidence and creates a supportive community.
Importance of stepping back — Recognizing when to pause instead of pushing forward on challenges.
Combining interests — Merging technical skills and physical movement to create unique solutions.
Parkour’s mental impact — Encourages resilience and a problem-solving mindset in both physical and abstract contexts.
Non-competitive environments — Cultivates collaboration and individual growth.
Parkour Clinic project — Offers free, remote sports therapy consultations, focusing on conversation-based solutions.
Resources
Parkour Clinic — Offers free online sports therapy sessions.
James’s Blog — Personal blog discussing various topics, including programming and parkour.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river — small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being.
~ Bertrand Russel
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What a journey this life is! Dependent, entirely, on things unseen. If your lover lives in Hong Kong and cannot get to Chicago, it will be necessary for you to go to Hong Kong. Perhaps you will spend your life there, and never see Chicago again. And you will, I assure you, as long as space and time divide you from anyone you love, discover a great deal about shipping routes, airlines, earth quake, famine, disease, and war. And you will always know what time it is in Hong Kong, for you love someone who lives there. And love will simply have no choice but to go into battle with space and time and, furthermore, to win.
~ James Baldwin from, The Light Between Us – The Marginalian
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I’m not sure how many things I’ve linked to over on Popova’s Marginalian project. By now you should be directly following it and reading everything she’s publishing. I’m frozen by indecision; there are so countless many superlative books, and Nothing Personal is yet another one. Drat!
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Like any good algebraist, he is made to think sometimes in a forward fashion and sometimes in reverse; and so he learns when to concentrate mostly on what he wants to happen and also when to concentrate mostly on avoiding what he does not want to happen.
~ Charlie Munger from, Stop Crashing Planes: Charlie Munger’s Six-Element System
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That item from a list of six elements, originally from the best pilot education program in existence, made me realize there’s this thing that I do. For me it’s such an intuitive, automatic thing, but it occurs to me to share it to make it explicit.
Let’s begin by thinking about planning and learning. (I’m done. You are now thinking about planning and learning. :) Next, we’ll trot out three magnificently useful, relative adverbs: how, when and why. Six sublime questions instantly appear:
How do I plan?
When do I plan?
Why do I plan?
How do I learn?
When do I learn?
Why do I learn?
I’ve certainly spent a lot of time thinking about those questions. For example, I’ve a bunch of blog posts about knowledge systems that came from thinking about, “how do I learn?” I could spend all my time thinking about those six questions. Exploring those questions, understanding myself, and learning in general, are fine projects to spend time on. But it’s tough to get started. Each of those questions is a deep, Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole.
What I want to share is how to use a different framework to flip the entire process over. I want to share my way of making progress on those fine projects without intentionally working on them. Things happen. Thoughts arise. (Your experience may be similar to mine?) The following framework will take anything—happenings or thoughts—and guide it into being deep work on those six questions.
Simply ask:
Forward or backward in time: Is the event in the future or past? Am I thinking about the future or past?
And…
Prefer or dis-prefer: Do I prefer or dis-prefer the event? Do I prefer or dis-prefer what I’m thinking?
For me, the act of examining something—an event, a thought—in the light of those questions, (forward/backward? preferred/dis-preferred?,) leads me to learning about one, and sometimes several, of those six, big questions.
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How can personal experiences with Aikido and wellness practices be used to help others improve their lives through self-awareness, physical health, and personal growth?
Unexpectedly inheriting an Aikido school may sound overwhelming, but Cara-Michele Nether took it in stride. She sits down to share her journey in Aikido and acupuncture, and what she’s learned from both. Cara-Michele unpacks her views on overall health, and how she helps people improve their lives by focusing on their ‘why.’ She discusses her grandmother, the importance of self-awareness, and her thoughts on Aikido’s usefulness.
Nobody wants to do something that they feel awful about. So you have to make it easy and smooth for them and give them small reasons to celebrate and have a good time and feel like they want to come back.
~ Cara-Michele Nether (38:42)
The discussion focuses on personal growth and the impact of martial arts, particularly Aikido, on physical and emotional health. Aikido serves as a tool for self-awareness and developing resilience, as Cara-Michele shares her journey from discovering the practice to inheriting and leading a dojo. The themes of humility, connection, and navigating challenges in teaching and practice are explored in depth.
Health and wellness are central topics, as Cara-Michele integrates practices like acupuncture, nutrition, and functional movement into their work. She emphasize the importance of understanding personal motivations, or “why,” to make meaningful changes in health and lifestyle. Stories of overcoming challenges and helping others through tailored approaches highlight the transformative power of these practices.
Takeaways
Functional movement — Emphasis on exercises that enhance daily life skills like lifting, climbing stairs, or squatting.
Humility in practice — The necessity of maintaining an “empty cup” mindset for growth in martial arts and personal development.
Health connections — The integration of acupuncture, nutrition, and movement to improve overall well-being.
Legacy and impact — Encouraging others to recognize their unique contributions and preserve family histories.
Community and belonging — The importance of fostering connections and seeing oneself as valuable to others.
Resources
Strength and Vitality Wellness Center — A wellness center offering acupuncture, nutrition, and movement classes, designed to help clients achieve overall health and vitality.
Falls Road Aikido — A dojo founded by Cara-Michele Nether that emphasizes Aikido practice with a focus on personal growth and connection.
Kinokawa Aikido — An Aikido organization that strongly influenced Cara-Michele’s martial arts journey, known for its emphasis on martial and philosophical aspects of Aikido.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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With few exceptions, e-mail use arose organically within organizations, with little thought applied to how digital communication might best serve the relevant objectives.
~ Cal Newport from, The E-mail Productivity Curve – Cal Newport
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As usual, this is an interesting article from Newport. He proposes a productivity curve for email—how productive we are without, with-some, with-more, with-too-much—which explains perfectly why some people love email and some people hate it.
The key point about email is to use it intentionally. Not simply one’s own use; not simply, “I only check my email twice a day,” or, “I’m always at ‘inbox zero.'” The key is to deploy email wisely, in a way which increases productivity of a team, (family, community, whatever.) If adding email into the mix is going to increase productivity, then do so. Then zoom out and look at all your other communication tools, and perform the same calculus. Email is simply one example of a tool which initially [hopefully] increases productivity, but too-soon becomes a detriment.
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People who succeed look to give their future selves an edge. They seek to put themselves in a more advantaged position down the road. They make small sacrifices today to alleviate stress and enjoy more fulfillment tomorrow.
~ Steve Pavlina from, Patterns of Success – Steve Pavlina
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There’s an old adage about how we consistently over-estimate what can be accomplished in a day, while under-estimating what can be accomplished in a lifetime.
At some point I started loosely planning each day; There are times when I completely pause this daily activity, but in general, early in the morning I create a plan for the day. I disagree with the often repeated recommendation to plan the night before. In the evening, as I’m winding down, planning my day would place me in front of my computer which is something I avoid at all costs.
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Drank a lot of coffe from here while at Gerlev. Crazy fun to ride up and find all these great ppl!
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Hello!
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German beer, Dannish bar — but this toast is for my awesome wife, best friend and fellow parkour addict, Tracy… today is our 11th wedding anniversary, after 26+ years together! If you are in cph this eve, hit me up via FB messenger!! #frig17
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At the end, when your legs are tired
~ unknown
and your arms are giving out,
GET ANGRY.
Get angry that you are tired.
THEN HIT IT HARDER.
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