Joy of distancing

A small gleaning from Austin Kleon’s blog:

Some People are Toxic. Avoid Them. T]here is a test to determine whether someone is toxic or nourishing in your relationship with them. Here is the test: You have spent some time with this person, either you have a drink or go for dinner or you go to a ball game. It doesn’t matter very much but at the end of that time you observe whether you are more energized or less energized. Whether you are tired or whether you are exhilarated. If you are more tired then you have been poisoned. If you have more energy you have been nourished. The test is almost infallible and I suggest that you use it for the rest of your life. - Milton Glaser

It is important to recognize the tasks, the actions and the people who are vampires in your life. Often lovingly we end up allowing too much time and proximity to the undeserving. A proximity that is bound to someday hurt you or at the least, stray you away from what you strive for. Saying NO, is the best thing. If saying no is hard, start with keeping a distance and tapering off the energy you spend incrementally. You will definitely thank yourself for it.

Waiting on tools

Having the fanciest pair of studs on weak legs are not going to make you a good player. Waiting on the tools without practicing your game is a detrimental waste of your time. Important is to get good with what you have and build up on it until you can have better tools to put to use.

The Last push

The most amount of push while swimming in breaststroke is the one you get on finishing one loop cleanly by connecting your legs. Leave it half and go for another stroke, thinking the hands or the kick of the legs are more important and you squander the benefit generated by the least amount of effort that comes from completing a loop cleanly.

The last push that allows you to cross the finish line, be it in a sprint or a project will be the one that you will benefit most from. 100m at the end of a sprint are more important than the 700 that preceded them in terms of the returns they give you. Not just material gains but immense learning and self-confidence and the potential to build on top of something that has already been achieved are the treasures of finishing. It is really an all or nothing gig most of the times.