#37 The word you sow

So you might be frustrated with your situations at work,and in the end I suggest the only thing you have to frustrated with is yourself. You cannot separate with what you have done with what occurs. If you are a poor leader in your workplace and you get a shitty perform evaluations etc. I am sorry to say look at yourself. How are you guiding people, how are you feed backing people, how are you leading.

The truth is that simply, look at yourself in the mirror.

Your Canadian brother

# 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

#23 the movement class lesson five – back pain

Hey, look behind you, no not behind you, behind-you. When you think of your back do you think of an impressive set of shoulders or maybe your latissimus muscles, your butt? Well, you’re all right but this surprisingly complicated area of the human body is interesting. He’s made it easy with this one and broken down the muscles in the back into three;

The superficial group, which holds the trapezius, latissimus dorsi, rhomboid minor and levator scapulae. The intermediate group known as the respiratory group is a combination of serratus muscles and the deep group which are all of the wildly useful muscles that control and balance the movement of your spine.

The multitude of systems that are present in the back provide support to the head and thorax, and the ribs which are attached to the back. So before you reach for your ibuprofen and decide that your back hurts too much to do x and y, keep reading.

  1. Pull it, In my experience there is no better cure for back pain than prevention. A strong and healthy back will get you through the hard times and will ensure that you remain healthy for a long time. The back responds to pulling thing, so pull yourself up, pull something up, or pull yourself through the water and develop the muscles that keep your spine safe.
  2. Twist, the spine is not necessarily meant to twist and I don’t advise you to watch one youtube video and become a yogi but putting your body through the paces with regular movement supporting your back in less than regular movements, will be best. A burpee is tremendous, next time try two.
  3. Get up, there isn’t a practice more regulating than walking, I understand you are probably reading this and you are either on the subway looking down, or on your computer looking down, you’ll never see that goose coming… Walking chest out and take up space, look up and balance your spine on your pelvis like you are holding an egg with a spoon, notice the torque in places it should not be and stretch.

You’ve got this, the pain of failure defeats never trying at all.

Your Canadian Brother

#17 the grass is always greener

A fantasy, of green grass or maybe a description of the American dream. A now cliche form of symbolism can be defined as comparing yourself to your neighbors. Commonplace to North America the comparison of your neighbors values has expanded to the ether, you can now compare your life to literally anyone with an internet connection. You can witness disparate abundant wealth and utter poverty at a few keystrokes. Now, what you do as a witness to the visual assault of people that are not you will mean the difference between a successful life and that not.

  1. Who are you. I mean what are your values, without a set of values that you live by, imagine a compass turning wildly as it is attracted to North. Except your compass does not land, and each action you make involves a revolution of the compass, you end up back at the first square.
  2. Precision. So you have discovered your true North, now what. With lethal precision pursue your goals, you cannot pop a balloon with another balloon, sharpen yourself into an arrowhead or at the very least a needle.
  3. Trudge. Now that you’ve popped your opposition with instinct sharpening your moves, pick up each muddy foot and put it down again, you will be better off after every step and before long your drudgery will be recognized, your ability to lead will improve. The “I have been in that situation before” is a powerful educational ability only you can give yourself.

Who are ya?

Your Canadian brother.

That’s your grass

#13 the movement class lesson one – walking

The movement class will be a series because movement is the most important thing you can do for yourself.

There are just as many ways to move as there are people there are on earth, one of these methods will suit you best, I have no doubt.

One, walking.

Walking is the act of locomotion generated by picking up one leg, putting it to one side of your body and allowing the momentum of your body to lead yourself in the direction of the displaced leg. Before toppling over like a table that has lost a leg, the other leg is put into action and a step is completed. There are countless ways in which the act of walking can improve your life. But classically, you will not remember more than three.

  1. Primordially, it is what makes you human.
  2. Circulation. Whether it be an improvement in blood circulation due to an elevated heart rate, or the physical effect of the tearing and subsequent healing of muscle tissues, walking is the catalyst of all of your biological processes, and can quickly indicate to you where you may have a deficiency.
  3. You can not do it wrong. Walking is non strenuous and low impact the act alone can not take you farther from your goals, being built into your code you are supposed to walk.

Do it, for half hour or more each day, you can do it, I have no doubt.

Your Canadian brother.

#12 seasonal disorders or opportunities for growth?

We are in the thick of winter here in the northern hemisphere and it is pretty unpleasant to be cooped up and isolated and away from family and friends, but what a great opportunity for self development.

Here are three ways to kick winter in the face.

  1. Pick something up. How about that life-making to-do list that you’ve been putting off. Invest in yourself first and take courses that are now available online, or change up your routine by waking up at a different hour, and track and record what happens.
  2. Move. The world is huge, and if you are finding that your personal philosophy does not jive with your values, take the plunge and become a modern explorer, find out for yourself what color the grass is on the other side.
  3. Sharpen your sword. Always, always, suffer in self development, I hope that I will be able to retain my motivation for self improvement for as long as I possibly can. You’ve heard it before, your body is your temple, take advantage of this time.

You can do this, I have no doubts.

Your CDN bro

#11 redefine what you must do – the specialist vs the generalist

In the past you would die if you were not a generalist, and that lead to a millennia of people being generalists. Why would you die? Well, if you lived and couldn’t provide for your family and community completely, as a general husband, spouse, and beacon for the community like a hunter or a farmer, you could reason that your life was incomplete. However, now where so much of that auxiliary work can and is accomplished by far fewer people, in a managed and logical process-driven society. You have the opportunity to be a specialist like at no other time in history.

The fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect or fame.

Miriam-Webster Dictionary

To break it down there are three things you must accomplish to become a revered specialist.

  1. Choose specialty. Special is a definition worth looking at being distinguished in some unusual quality. If someone says they are a painter you may assume that it is a specialty, is your specialty in painting, or an alcoholic that is oil-painting on canvas of mountainside landscapes in northern Italy from June to August in the golden hour? Sometimes life does not give you a chance to be anything but a generalist and to an extent you must be, to live, but in other cases people have their surroundings so well suited for their specialty, so build your environment to work for you, even when you are asleep.
  2. I can’t relate. You will constantly be bombarded with what other people think that you should be doing so that you fit the image of you they have in their mind. It is a dangerous game, and one that will undoubtedly lead you away from the path of specialist. If you are confronted with individuals or groups telling you that they do things this way or that way, you can’t relate, they don’t write your biography.
  3. Focus. The world is becoming more and more attention grabbing like standing in the middle of times square. Focus on your craft, your art, and you will get there. There isn’t a doubt in my mind.

Your CDN brother.

#10 three steps to learn anything

It is that easy. You will learn here how to understand your human limitations before making a demonstration of knowledge.

I am grateful for coffee. Boring I know.

  1. Get help. As much as we’d like to think we are unique butterflies, we are not, everything you want to learn has been studied at length in the past. Your success depends on finding the people who have been in your position in the past and learn everything you can from them. (in general as much as you can export your mundane tasks, see tomorrows).
  2. Start at the beginning. So much of what you see is designed to make it look easy. Whatever it is, it is not easy. Whatever you are learning or want to learn is probably simple, linear and logical, however it is not easy. You didn’t spend the first decade of your life learning calculus, no, first you learned what set of symbols represent numbers and grew your knowledge from there. As is the case for anything else, especially if your background in the subject is several decades old.
  3. Definite, persistent effort. You might discover along your learning that you are relatively really good at something. Do not fool yourself, your knack for a thing does not reflect your abilities, the dedicated pursuit of the thing, for hours, months and years will ensure your success.

You can learn anything,

Your CDN Bro.

#08 personal ownership at the time of a global pandemic

I am grateful for my health.

So much of our brainspace is being consumed by illness. We continue to be inundated with illness and everyone is looking outwards for a solution, they are looking at what the leaders are doing about it, what are you doing about it? It is our responsibility to keep ourselves healthy and safe as well as our wives and children and loved ones. They say never waste a crisis, so here are three things to do to take charge of it and own the crisis.

1. Enterprise. I remember that at the onset of this global illness there was a massive shortage in pretty much everything and it hasn’t gone to “normal” maybe it never will. Take the opportunity and step into the supply chain, do you see a demand gap? Figure out a way to make yourself part of the chain.

2. Improve. The world continues to turn as much as some aspects have ensured some factors are more difficult it is time to work on yourself. Whether that be getting as fit as fuck or learning a new skill or getting that degree you’ve been putting off, there has never been a better time to improve for alls sake, read a book.

3. Rest. We haven’t seen the impact of a pandemic on a mental health scale yet, we have surely experienced itself in ourselves by staring at other blank masked faces staring back at us, blankly. Take time and rest, develop the habits and routines that make you wake up daily ready to tackle 1. And 2.

A winter sunrise

Your Canadian brother.

#06 multicultural leading

I am grateful for my Country.

Tomorrows leader will not deal in one culture, especially in countries like Canada. Here is a three pointer on how to lead a multi cultural group.

  1. Your experience is not the same experience as anyone else around you. Whether it be immigrant, first generation or multi-generational Canadian, your experience varies, and there is no warning. For instance my parents found a better life here (I am a first generation Canadian) and nobody taught them and they did not take the time to learn about retirement planning, so far too late they were required to scramble for their retirement finances – not exactly where you want to be when you step into retirement.
  2. There is no, no. In my experience if you want to work, no matter what job nobody will tell you to slow down or stop. You will be judged and characterized and grouped but the only thing slowing you down will be you. What I often see is that people compare themselves to the lowest common performer with the justification “if this persons doing something (or not), I am going to do that thing (or not)”. It’s a pathetic excuse not to reach your potential, so stop, and re-evaluate.
  3. Define success for you. To some, a good harvest is a success, for others a culmination of their lives means earning a million dollars, and others have unattainable goals like winning the lottery (goals will be tomorrows topic). But for you, a desire to unabashedly chase your goal like a dog chasing it’s tail is required. It is simple, if your goal is G and your activities do not equal G but require you to subtract, you are doing it wrong. G = a(x) Goals must equal activities(x) that x marks the spot, defining what your G is means you can fill out the rest of the equation on your own.

Your CDN Bro.

Little dude holding onto my rucksack for dear life, It’ll be a trip boiiiiii.