The Real Con 090 - The basics of direction

Soft skills to live in a hard world. Seeking wisdom, discipline and more to leave my world a little better than I found it…

Hey everyone,

This note is hitting your inbox a little later than normal. My lack of planning this past week caught up to me. But it was a great week of no planning.

It is amazing how quickly we can cover ground these days. In just 6 days I managed to travel by air and ground to 7 different states. Needless to say it has been a lot of sitting and a lot of driving over the last few weeks.

Here are 3 quotes, the most interesting thing I learned this week, 1 essay, and 1 question to reflect on.

3 Quotes

“As a matter of fact, too, work done without interest actually strains the body more than work enthusiastically performed.” - Edwin Checkley

“Steep is the way to mastery.” - Eugen Herrigel

“Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny.” - Steven Pressfield

The Most Interesting Thing I Learned this Week

"People said women couldn't swim the Channel, but I proved they could." - Gertrude Ederle

On August 6, 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English Channel at the age of 19. Known as the "Queen of the Waves," she first tried to cross the channel on August 18, 1925 but was unsuccessful when another swimmer pulled her from the water.

A year later after training with Bill Burgess, she crossed the channel successfully in 14 hours 31 minutes. Bill had previously crossed the channel as the second man to ever make it across.

Trudy beat the men's world record by 1 hour 59 minutes. It was estimated that she swam 35 miles (56km) despite the distance across being only 21 miles (34km).

The basics of direction

“If you do not know others, it is difficult to understand yourself.” - Miyamoto Musashi

Edwin Checkley was born in 1847. He was thought to be one of the strongest men in America in the late 19th century. He grew strong by focusing on bodyweight exercises. He knew the power of our minds, the power of observation, the power of practice.

“If you are weak to-day let your resentment give you mental strength to make yourself physically sound and strong. If you are what you are, it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that you can become what you wish to be.” - Edwin Checkley, Checkely’s Natural Method of Physical Training, 1921

Strength is not found in 7 minutes of 7 exercises between your meditation session and your cold-pressed juice. It is not in your 40g of whey protein or pre workout supplements.

Strength is found in mastering the basics. Strength is found in studying timeless practices that produce results. Strength is found in consistency, not just intensity. Strength is found in showing up when you don’t want to. Strength is found in making sure you are moving in the right direction and then putting in the work to get there.

“Whoever would get to the heart of it, let him do so with conviction, practicing in the morning and training in the evening.” - Miyamoto Musashi

9 Questions to Reflect on 

Instead of one question, here are several to reflect on as you plan your week.

1. What do I enjoy most about my activities, tasks, and work?

2. What would I change if I knew for sure I couldn’t fail?

3. What would I do even if I knew it was going to fail?

4. Why do I do what I do?

5. Did I do what I planned to do? 

6. What have I done to improve my world around me?

7. Did I say no enough this week?

8. What is the one thing I need to accomplish next week?

9. How often do I do something that I enjoy (daily, weekly, etc)?

In Closing...

Any feedback, suggestion, or critique is welcome: feel free to reply (if you got this in your inbox) or send an email to [email protected].

Stay sharp,

Michael

#090

The Real Con

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