Goals
You just finished your gym routine while working with a professional trainer. You were unable to meet any of the goals that the trainer set for any exercise routine. He wanted 30 pushups for each cycle and you could only do 25 before stopping to rest. He demanded more reps on several weight machines than you could do. You're exhausted, drenched in sweat and too tired to drive home without resting for a few minutes in your car. Should you be please or frustrated with your performance? Most of us are going to be frustrated because we failed to make those goals.
Feelings aren't wrong, but I think that in this case you should be pleased with your performance. Part of what a trainer is supposed to do is push you. If you achieve all of the goals in every workout, are you really being pushed?
Back when I was a competitive bowler I did a lot of practicing. It's part of the process. I kept track of my scores to try to track my progress. Then one day I went to the lanes to practice. A friend of mine was there practicing, a friend who was a member of the Professional Bowler's Association. I noticed that he wasn't keeping score so I asked him why. He told me that there was no point to keeping score when practicing. He said "the function of practice is to improve your game. You work on improving how you bowl both physically and mentally. Some days you should work on spare shooting. Others you work on throwing strikes." From there the conversation got into the more technical aspects of good shot-making. So I tried his approach and made a dramatic improvement in my game.
Setting goals is great when just working out, but the reason isn't so you make them every workout. You set slightly unattainable goals and when you are able to meet them, you raise them so they are again just out of reach. Then, reach them!
* * *
There is a lot of talk about how police officers handle traffic stops and other interactions with the public. The rules that govern such things are important. But more important, at least IMHO, is to properly train these men and women in the art of deescalating situations. That is the real problem. Officers are right to be concerned with their own safety and that of the public, but they can't allow that to drive them into making interactions with the public worse, rather than better.
We were trained in that area when I received my law enforcement training during my time in the Air Force. It was invaluable training once I was dealing with the people I encountered in that work. I learned not to personalize what was said to me. I learned how to remain calm and not let my emotions govern my actions.
Granted, I wasn't facing the same dangers that urban police officers face. But the same concepts apply. Stay alert. The best way to resolve a situation is peacefully. Talk rather than act. It isn't an easy thing to do when you're dealing with someone who is distraught or high or whatever. It is still better than having to draw a firearm.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
This one is directly mostly at my former colleagues at a certain private school. FF to 7:41 and ask yourself, does the interviewer remind you of anyone? :)
Why is it that when you tell a store clerk they've rung up your order incorrectly they take it as a personal affront? I knew the total was wrong, I told him so and when he canceled and re-rang my order, it was $4 lower. Yet he insisted it was right the first time.
You think that when you tell the management of a theater that one of the bathroom stall doors is broken (the door was pushed through so that the latch is outside rather than inside of the catch), it would be repaired 2.5 hours later when you exit the auditorium.
Feelings aren't wrong, but I think that in this case you should be pleased with your performance. Part of what a trainer is supposed to do is push you. If you achieve all of the goals in every workout, are you really being pushed?
Back when I was a competitive bowler I did a lot of practicing. It's part of the process. I kept track of my scores to try to track my progress. Then one day I went to the lanes to practice. A friend of mine was there practicing, a friend who was a member of the Professional Bowler's Association. I noticed that he wasn't keeping score so I asked him why. He told me that there was no point to keeping score when practicing. He said "the function of practice is to improve your game. You work on improving how you bowl both physically and mentally. Some days you should work on spare shooting. Others you work on throwing strikes." From there the conversation got into the more technical aspects of good shot-making. So I tried his approach and made a dramatic improvement in my game.
Setting goals is great when just working out, but the reason isn't so you make them every workout. You set slightly unattainable goals and when you are able to meet them, you raise them so they are again just out of reach. Then, reach them!
* * *
There is a lot of talk about how police officers handle traffic stops and other interactions with the public. The rules that govern such things are important. But more important, at least IMHO, is to properly train these men and women in the art of deescalating situations. That is the real problem. Officers are right to be concerned with their own safety and that of the public, but they can't allow that to drive them into making interactions with the public worse, rather than better.
We were trained in that area when I received my law enforcement training during my time in the Air Force. It was invaluable training once I was dealing with the people I encountered in that work. I learned not to personalize what was said to me. I learned how to remain calm and not let my emotions govern my actions.
Granted, I wasn't facing the same dangers that urban police officers face. But the same concepts apply. Stay alert. The best way to resolve a situation is peacefully. Talk rather than act. It isn't an easy thing to do when you're dealing with someone who is distraught or high or whatever. It is still better than having to draw a firearm.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
This one is directly mostly at my former colleagues at a certain private school. FF to 7:41 and ask yourself, does the interviewer remind you of anyone? :)
Why is it that when you tell a store clerk they've rung up your order incorrectly they take it as a personal affront? I knew the total was wrong, I told him so and when he canceled and re-rang my order, it was $4 lower. Yet he insisted it was right the first time.
You think that when you tell the management of a theater that one of the bathroom stall doors is broken (the door was pushed through so that the latch is outside rather than inside of the catch), it would be repaired 2.5 hours later when you exit the auditorium.
The moment in Love Actually where "Jamie" (Colin Firth) proposes to "Aurelia" (Lúcia Moniz) is my favorite of that movie. It even gives me a fraction of a moment's worth of hope for finding love. A very small fraction.
Never thought I'd see the Reverend Al Sharpton as a proponent of the rights of the transracial.
If you see a link to an item about The Rock setting a new world's record, skip it. It's just an advertisement.
CNN anchor Fredericka Whitfield said, “It was very courageous and brave, if not crazy as well, to open fire on
the police headquarters, and now you have this scene, this standoff. So
you believe these are the hallmarks of more than one person’s
involvement” regarding a man who opened fire on a Dallas police building. Is she nuts?
Do we really need to know which celebrities are going "commando" at movie premieres? I don't think so.
If I were a golfer and I scored 17 on the par 5 first hole of a course, as a Russian pro golfer did, I'd just put the clubs back in the bag and call it a day. He persevered and went 18 over for the round.
If all of the pretend people who post bullshit about making lots of money per hour working from home on the net were real, the economy would be booming. They ain't and it isn't.
posted by me at 3:47 PM
<< Home