Something Worth Sharing

Winning is not everything. Speed is optional. Pregnancy is relatable.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2409180/altra-pregnant-runners-alysia-montano-tina-muir?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=onsiteshare

I have to believe that a very large portion of runners today are not paying attention to podium finishers' footwear, but I'm not in that business. I could be wrong. But what kind of math does it take for Nike and Asics to treat pregnancies like injuries and reduce or suspend pay during that time?

If pro athletes are still willing to represent the brand in the press and on the sidelines, are they not just as valuable? In this age of celebrating vulnerability, I'm betting that Altra's gut is right. Runners are human. Runners take breaks. Runners are loyal to those who understand them. If a brand is willing to drop our running heroes that quickly, I wonder how they feel about us common people?

All the more reason to love my Altras.

Rewarding Speed

Parenting is hard. Nearly everyone's a rookie. We read some stuff. We observe others. We go with newly-informed gut and hope for the best.

When it comes to handing out compliments they often sound like this, "You finished your homework super fast!", "I barely noticed you left and your back already!""Wow, you cleaned your room quickly."

In the workplace we find ourselves saying, "Great turn around on that, thanks." Day in and day out we are bombarded with rewards for speed. It's the compliment of choice. It's a measurable reality. It's also micro suggestion that speed matters more than other things.

As modern parents and employers we can't help ourselves--despite the chatter to the contrary--we reward children and employees for finishing tasks quickly even if the task was not about time. I suppose most of our parents did the same thing, and our respective bosses still do.

For better or worse and for the love of one-click next day delivery, we've come to expect speed as a given.

But what are we willing to give up if we must?

There's an old saying that suggests that there are three things that we can expect from a person doing a task for us: speed, affordability and quality, but that we can only pick two at a time.

If we want it fast and cheap, don't expect quality. If we want it cheap and high quality don't expect it to come quickly. If we want it fast and high quality it won't be cheap.

Is that saying now outdated or has the bar been lowered on cost and quality?

I'm going to take some time to think about that . . . because no one is really expecting an answer any time sooner . . . or ever, really.

Focus on Adding

300 to add. 3000 to remove. It sounds like the Crazy Glue ratio.

Crazy Glue comes screaming out of the tube onto your fingers and then it takes 10x the effort to remove it. This is not about glue though, these particular numbers, or similar, have been floating around the sports training world relative to the number of repetitions it takes to form new habits.

I'm confused though. How is possible that it takes 300 reps to add a new habit and 3000 reps to break an old habit? Adding a new habit is simply telling your body to do something it hasn't been doing right?

The act of adding a new habit--by default--means you've replaced your old behavior with new behavior. By these numbers you should be able to do that with 300 reps. All of our subconscious movements are habits, and to layer a new on means over riding something even if we don't recognize it as a habit.

Spending 3000 reps 'breaking' a habit--depending on how you look at it--means you've acquired a new habit and practiced it 10x more than you needed to.

I think I prefer the Bruce Lee method. Deliberate practice of what you want to add without focusing on what you are trying to avoid.