Tag: development

# 31 which type of river are you?

There are only so many ways that people wander through life, here are three and at the end I will tell you why I wander the way that I do.

1) The first person is a winding river that hollows out the landscape and finds the easiest routes around the softest ground curling on itself and eventually making it to its destination. The winder, or wanderer, does not let any occurance divide its path, it may not know where it ends up but it knows it is a river and its one job is to deliver what is at the source, to the final destination.

2) The mountan creek. This person is always trickling along as snow, ice, water runs off higher surfaces into its depths. The creek though, may sound like a pussy, it has its strength. When torrential rains occur, or when the spring ice melt happens the creek can turn into a carnivourous maniac wiping out everything in its path. The creek or brook most of the time is calm and steady it becomes overwhelmed and if you are in its path there is not light for you, yet.

3) The damned river. Water has many excellent properties that make it useful, and one of its uses is power generation. Stopping the winding river, or creek can swell the banks of the flowing river, flooding landscapes and creating reservoirs to satsify the needs of the population. What the river loses is its power as a result, only a minute amount of energy is left over on the other side of the dam. Do you let other people dam your energy? For use by themselves?

I say, there is a time and place for all of these rivers; but do not be afraid of your power in the mighty landscape of life.

Your Canadian Brother

#21 the movement class lesson four

This time, its your spine.

Last class we discussed the importance of maintaining your core and what it means to have a strong core and the life impacts that having a strong core has overall. Today we’ll discuss your spine and how fueling your spine will have an impact on your life.

  1. Predatory movement, Think about the motion of a shark swimming, or the dynamic movement performed by a predatory cat mid hunt. You should not remove yourself from these predatory motions, but that is all we do, we sit in unnatural positions at desks stretching out our lower spine leaving it stationary for hours on end expecting it to perform when we ask it to.
A predators spine is healthy and resilient

2. Our bodies will become good at what we ask from them, so if you ask your body to sit at a desk for long periods of time it will become sore, at first, to challenge itself and then once it realizes that this is normal now you will remain in that position, when standing, and when operating as a human. Diversify your movement; don’t let your body think that sitting, hunched over a computer, is normal.

3. Your spinal column is organized to send information from your brain to the rest of your body using that thing sitting at the top. If you neglect the attachments, like an under used peripheral on your computer your spine will react, whether it be pain or worse. You must keep your spine in action and if you are ever wondering what is possible look at the flexibility of top performing humans at the Olympics and see, your range of motion sucks and it all starts from your spine.

I think I’ll revisit the spine because I am not done with its utility, this was mostly based on spinal health but I think that mental health can be tied to the spine as well.

Your Canadian Brother

#15 what is your legacy

As leaders, it is our duty to continuously perform planning for our successors. Every time an email rolls across your inbox and is quickly turned into a later problem we put our future selves and our successors in a less privileged position. Putting off work, doing the same work twice and leaving it to someone else to handle are examples not of procrastination but of a dangerous rainfall on the side of a compromised slope.

Mudslide.

There are of course three steps to take to tackle what you are confronted with.

  1. Confidence. Hang it all out there, take all the doors and roof off and as you scream down the highway see what falls off, until you are lean and mean and agile you will make it to your destination without losing too much.
  2. Aggression. Demand respect and demand peoples ear, if you are consuming time to explain things twice or guide someone down a path that they are just not getting, you are wasting your time. Be aggressive with your time, be aggressive with your words.
  3. Recognition. En mass people are dis-satisfied for not being recognized for their hard work, or perceived hard work. People will groan and gripe about not being recognized. You as a leader must quickly and deliberately recognize your people for their accomplishments, not only will it make them work harder for you, it means you have led them well.

They are simple steps, but easy as one-two-three, and you can accomplish them, I have no doubt.

Your Canadian brother.

#14 what are you willing to sacrifice

Generally, what will differentiate you from the next person is the amount you are willing to sacrifice. My employer to some degree causes the entire organization to sacrifice what would normally be accepted as a “normal” North American life. I have a friend who is unwilling to sacrifice a moment of his time towards work. A recommendation from a boss turns into a cascade of messages about being abused and overlooked. I hate to break it to you, buddy, but if you’re not willing to sacrifice a moment of your time, why do you expect an acknowledgment of your ability? Obviously there are three things that you will have to sacrifice to be a success.

  1. Set your limits. Before you go out making lofty goals like conquering the world, you have to be willing to set your limits on sacrifice. If you aren’t willing to, give up where you live, your social circle, or your daily routines, you should consider what lane on the freeway you are willing to travel.
  2. Know yourself. Getting to your limits means you first must know what you are capable of. Before you understand where you can get you must understand where you first can go.
  3. Develop. If you are going to give something up, you have to have it in the first place. Continue to develop yourself in all aspects, a tireless and endless pursuit absorb everything like a sponge.

Your Canadian brother.