The Power of the "What If.." and the "How About This..."
Tiny phrases move mountains.
What If....I tried? And failed. Good! (to borrow a phrase from Jocko Willink). What If, I tried again, and trained for it? And did it again? And made it? To the bottom of the Grand Canyon. To the top of Mount Whitney. To the finish line. To the 6th pull-up. To the mat. To the promotion.
Want to change your life? Take up the advice of short words and phrases. Pretty consonants dotted with delicate vowels lead you down paths of delight and wonder.
And thus I dive in once again to training for competition. I've done enough prep for various events in my life to know better than to throw my efforts at a project half-hearted. My last big project, the sergeant's exam, took a little mental prodding until I finally had a moment of clarity, asked "but....what if?", put my head down, and did what I knew I could do.
Now I ask twice for my arts. The Battle of the Bayani on March 2, and the Pans on March 20? What if....
I am putting my head down now and tossing my being into the process big wave style. This one is (thankfully) not made up of barely digestible pages of policies and procedures requiring copious doses of creative study techniques designed to weave information into my kinesthetic head. Rather, the following weeks will be dominated by meal prep, drills, workouts and classes that are planned literally down to the minute, and a new thing: visual technique review. I've never been a "Dude I saw this move on You Tube...!!" kind of gal, but my work schedule is graveyards until May, so I'll have extra downtime at night. I can't physically drill in uniform, but I can visually drill techniques from class (which I'll video) between radio calls. The times I am not physically working toward the goal will be spent mentally working.
Part of my success in the sergeant process was allowing some obsession. I had notecards, notebooks, practice tests, and a study group. The physical sensation I carried with me was that of being shrouded in a sheet that blocked the distractions. Drinks with friends? No. Lunch with my favorite date, aka, Vanity Fair magazine? No. Kindle? No. No to all of the above. I knew this was what it would take. I had done the process once before but I didn't "leave it out there." To succeed, one must be willing to step into the Corvette, put on side blinders, glue the doors shut, pop the clutch, and drive full speed to the center of the mat on game day.
I am inviting that sensation now, surrendering to it.
Here is a pic from class a couple weeks ago. I had the wonderful honor to roll with Mike Fowler, who was extremely enthusiastic to share his knowledge and proved to be a solid technician. Till the next update. Go forth and conquer.
What If....I tried? And failed. Good! (to borrow a phrase from Jocko Willink). What If, I tried again, and trained for it? And did it again? And made it? To the bottom of the Grand Canyon. To the top of Mount Whitney. To the finish line. To the 6th pull-up. To the mat. To the promotion.
Want to change your life? Take up the advice of short words and phrases. Pretty consonants dotted with delicate vowels lead you down paths of delight and wonder.
And thus I dive in once again to training for competition. I've done enough prep for various events in my life to know better than to throw my efforts at a project half-hearted. My last big project, the sergeant's exam, took a little mental prodding until I finally had a moment of clarity, asked "but....what if?", put my head down, and did what I knew I could do.
Now I ask twice for my arts. The Battle of the Bayani on March 2, and the Pans on March 20? What if....
I am putting my head down now and tossing my being into the process big wave style. This one is (thankfully) not made up of barely digestible pages of policies and procedures requiring copious doses of creative study techniques designed to weave information into my kinesthetic head. Rather, the following weeks will be dominated by meal prep, drills, workouts and classes that are planned literally down to the minute, and a new thing: visual technique review. I've never been a "Dude I saw this move on You Tube...!!" kind of gal, but my work schedule is graveyards until May, so I'll have extra downtime at night. I can't physically drill in uniform, but I can visually drill techniques from class (which I'll video) between radio calls. The times I am not physically working toward the goal will be spent mentally working.
Part of my success in the sergeant process was allowing some obsession. I had notecards, notebooks, practice tests, and a study group. The physical sensation I carried with me was that of being shrouded in a sheet that blocked the distractions. Drinks with friends? No. Lunch with my favorite date, aka, Vanity Fair magazine? No. Kindle? No. No to all of the above. I knew this was what it would take. I had done the process once before but I didn't "leave it out there." To succeed, one must be willing to step into the Corvette, put on side blinders, glue the doors shut, pop the clutch, and drive full speed to the center of the mat on game day.
I am inviting that sensation now, surrendering to it.
Here is a pic from class a couple weeks ago. I had the wonderful honor to roll with Mike Fowler, who was extremely enthusiastic to share his knowledge and proved to be a solid technician. Till the next update. Go forth and conquer.
Awesome write up Deborah, thank you for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteHi Darby! Thank you for reading. Hope all is well!
ReplyDelete